As The Force Whills It
by AuthorNo.04
Summary: What if young Anakin Skywalker wasn't the only Force-sensitive child the Jedi came across on their return journey back to Coruscant from the blockaded world of Naboo? - [! MAJOR A.U. !] - [COMPLETE]
1. Prologue - Mission Briefing

Author's Note #1: This fan fiction series is a retelling of the Star Wars Universe combined with a number of other favorite genres of mine in a Multiverse setting with some Original Characters and more. (WARNING! - Rating and Content may be subject to change throughout.)

Author's Note #2: This is my very first ever fan fiction writing.

Disclaimer: **_I OWN NOTHING!_**

* * *

Edit: If anyone out there who is just now reading this for the very first time, the crossover portion of this fanfiction officially starts on Chapter No. 11 ("Hearing Things"), and DOES NOT start on either Chapter No. 1 ("Prologue") or Chapter No. 2 ("Short Negotiations"). Unofficially, it actually starts on Chapter No. 10 ("Unexpected Detour 2"), so if anyone is wanting to read the crossover immediately without reading through the whole story first, then by all means, go directly to Chapter No. 11, as I indicated.

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Mission Briefing**

The sun gradually rose over the gigantically complex and bustling city world of Coruscant as the hyperspace ring of the Delta-6 _Sprite_ -class starfighter flew towards the planet's atmosphere and stopped short as the engines died.

The fighter then detached itself from the clamps that held it in place to the ring, and screeched down to the planet's surface directly below.

Hescand Starrgazer angled the ship slightly and gracefully towards the Jedi Temple, landing it on one of a number of hangar platforms.

The very young, yet tremendously gifted and astoundingly skilled Padawan had been summoned back to the Temple after successfully completing a mission on a distant moon near the Outer Rim Territories.

As he exited the craft, he was greeted by a tall long-haired Jedi Master, and although the man towered above him, at only 12 years old, Hescand Starrgazer stood at a full head higher than other average boys his age. He had been taken under the wing of Grandmaster Yoda, as well as a handful of others to be trained at the Jedi Temple two years prior, but not specifically assigned to any one teacher alone to be tutored one-on-one as Master and apprentice, which would normally be the case.

Yet for much of his formal training, Hes was more accustom to learning all on his own, preferring to study and teach himself the ways of the Force, with _some_ level of helpful support and guidance from his peers, as well as the other Knights and Masters whenever he needed their aid.

And although the Jedi Code strongly prohibited children as old as 10 from being trained, the Council rather reluctantly, but unanimously agreed after much debate, that the boy was found to be supremely strong with the Force, as well as the discovery of having a high midi-chlorian count, closely rivaling that of even Yoda himself.

The looming figure looked down at the boy and spoke.

"Hes? You almost missed the start of the briefing this morning."

Starrgazer slightly bowed to him in response.

"My deepest apologies, Master Qui-Gon. I got here as quickly as I could, but I had to go through an asteroid field in the Kauron system in order to make good headway."

Qui-Gon Jinn gave him a stern look that told the boy he wasn't buying into the excuse this time, causing Hes to sigh heavily under his breath with guilt.

"It won't happen again," he said softly.

Qui-Gon gestured for him to follow as he turned to enter the Temple.

As they strode through the massive halls and corridors of the colossal structure, Qui-Gon turned his face to look at Starrgazer.

"The Supreme Chancellor has been inquiring about you of late."

Hes turned to look up at him in wonder as they walked side by side, their hands clasped together in the sleeves of their robes.

"Why? Does he know who I really am? Where I came from? Or has he been having someone spy on me when I'm sometimes using my ' _unique abilities_ ', and seen me doing things that a Jedi couldn't otherwise do?" he asked quietly.

Qui-Gon stared out in deep thought for a moment.

"I don't know. There are only a select few to whom you revealed your true identity and place of origin to after all… Josh," he uttered in a hushed tone of voice, so as for no one to overhear him who walked by.

Both the Master and Padawan walked into the communications center where the briefing was to take place.

As they neared the middle of the room, a young man with short dark brown hair and a small pony tail at the back of his head turned around to look at them.

"Master? Hes? You're very nearly late," he said to the boy standing next to Qui-Gon.

"You needn't worry yourself about this matter, Obi-Wan. Hes undoubtedly _WILL_ do better to be on time from now on."

The tween boy simply glared at him.

A little while after the briefing had concluded, Qui-Gon and his young apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, were tasked with their new assignment to act as ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor on behalf of the Senate of the Galactic Republic, and they left to prepare for their departure. Hes was to come along with them purely for the sole purpose of observation and assessment as part of his training.

As they entered the space cruiser that was to take them to their destination, Hes turned to face Qui-Gon.

"So what exactly is this planet of Naboo like? I know I've read up on it in the library, but what are these underwater creatures? Gungans… I think they're called?" he asked.

The large Jedi turned his gaze to the boy.

"Yes. They're primarily a water dwelling race. Very talented aquatic swimmers as I understand. Not much else I can say about them, given that I've never been to Naboo myself, Josh."

Obi-Wan snapped his head with lightning speed and looked at his Master square in the face at the mere sound of the unfamiliar name.

"What?!"

Qui-Gon instantly released a sigh of deep regret under his breath, realizing his clumsy mistake, and Hes very suddenly went all stone-faced on what had just transpired right in front of him, opening his mouth and very slowly uttering a word that neither Jedi had ever heard before.

"Oh… crap."


	2. Ch 1 - Short Negotiations

Author's Note #1: The events and scenarios that occur throughout this fan fiction series, both major and minor as well as the primary plots, can all be attributed to the title of this first installment, i.e. " _As The Force Whills It_ ".

Author's Note #2: There is also going to be a lot of time-traveling throughout this series as well.

Disclaimer: _**AGAIN… I OWN NOTHING!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Short Negotiations**

As the cruiser neared the planet of Naboo, the three Jedi walked into the cockpit and looked out the viewport. A very large cargo freighter hovered above the planet's atmosphere, like a menacing predator lurking in the distance, patiently watching and waiting for it's moment.

Qui-Gon turned his gaze to the two pilots who were seated directly in front of him.

"Captain."

The woman seated on the left-hand side turned to look at him.

"Yes, sir?" she asked.

The Jedi signaled to her with a small nod of his head. "Tell them we wish to board at once," he instructed.

The captain activated the viewscreen just above them, and the image of a male Neimoidian, Nute Gunray, flickered to life.

"With all due respect, the ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately," she addressed him.

"Yes, of course. As you know, our blockade is perfectly legal," Gunray responded.

Hes scoffed at hearing this. "Legal? I thought any such thing was considered entirely illegal by the Galactic Senate."

Both the pilots and the Neimoidian looked over in his direction.

Qui-Gon rested a firm, but stern hand on the boy's shoulder to shush him.

"Shh, quiet. Mind your place, young one," he scolded.

Hes rolled his eyes in annoyance. The pilots turned back to the viewscreen.

"A- and w- we'd be h- happy to receive the ambassadors," Gunray stammered. "Unless your little friend there-"

Qui-Gon instantly broken his silence.

"Don't mind him. He'll be no trouble, I assure you," he said.

The Neimoidian nodded his approval, and a moment later the communication was severed as the screen went blank.

The cruiser slowed down as it came ever closer towards the giant spacecraft, angling over to the left and down as it entered one of the two massive hangar bays. It's landing struts retracted, and the cruiser touched down with a tiny clunking noise.

As the three Jedi exited their ship and walked to the nearest set of double doors which opened into a long hallway, they were greeted by a waiting shiny silver protocol droid on the other side.

"I am TC-14, at your service. This way, please," it insisted, turning to escort the Jedi into a conference room not far away. "We are greatly honored by your visit, Ambassadors. Make yourselves comfortable. My master will be with you shortly."

As the droid turned to leave, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Hes all removed their hoods, replacing their hands back into the sleeves of their robes.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-Wan stated as they all walked toward the viewport at the far end of the room.

"I do to. Something…dark…and sinister," Hes agreed, feeling a strong rise of energy vibrating in the Force.

Qui-Gon glanced at them both and faintly shook his head. "I don't sense anything," he remarked.

Obi-Wan looked at him. "It's not about the mission, Master. It's something…elsewhere…illusive."

Qui-Gon noted the nervousness that his apprentice was expressing. "Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs."

He looked in the direction of the 12-year-old walking alongside him. "You too, Hes."

The boy nodded respectfully. "Yes, Master Qui-Gon," he replied.

Obi-Wan looked at his Master bluntly in protest. "But Master Yoda said that I should be mindful of the future," he asserted.

Qui-Gon turned his head. "But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the Living Force, young Padawan."

Obi-Wan nodded with understanding. "Yes, Master."

The three walked over and stood side by side, staring out the viewport at the planet below.

"How do you think this Trade Viceroy will deal with the Chancellor's demands?" asked Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon let out a small sigh. "These Federation types are cowards. The negotiations will be short," he declared.

The protocol droid walked onto the bridge of the ship, and reported the arrival of the ambassadors to the Viceroy, as well as stating that their guests were most likely Jedi from the Galactic Republic. At this revelation, the Neimoidian stood staring at the droid in both utter shock and profound disbelief.

"What? What did you say?" he asked, thinking he had completely misheard the droid.

"The Ambassadors are Jedi Knights, I believe. At least… the two taller ones looked like it. I'm not certain of the third. He was much shorter."

The Viceroy turned to face the ship's captain standing next to him, Daultay Dofine, who spoke up.

"I knew it. They're hear to force a settlement. We're so done for!" he exclaimed.

The Viceroy stood thinking to himself. "What would two Jedi be doing with a child all the way out here?"

Dofine shrugged. "I have no idea. It must be one of their students! What does it matter, anyway? There are Jedi Knights on board this ship! What exactly are we going to do about this? I thought there wasn't going to be any trouble!"

The Viceroy gestured to him. "Distract them while I contact Lord Sidious."

At hearing this, the Neimoidian's jaw fell open. "Are you brain-dead? I'm not going in there with three Jedi."

He looked over at the protocol droid.

"Send the droid."

Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Hes were conversing amongst themselves when the protocol droid entered the room once again, carrying a beverage tray.

Obi-Wan was still shocked by the earlier revelation concerning Hes' real identity.

"I don't quite understand this. Why hadn't you told the Council who you actually were?"

Hes looked at him and shrugged.

"I wasn't sure how anyone would react to hearing such a peculiar name like Joshua Varner, since no such name exists in this time period. And given the fact that I came from a planet that the Council knows very little about in regards to the Archives, well I-"

Qui-Gon suddenly spoke out.

"Yet he did tell a small number of the Masters including ones on the Council about himself and his origins when he first came here. That of course included both Master Yoda and myself, as well as a few others."

Obi-Wan shook his head, sighing heavily. "I still think you should have informed the rest of the Order about this."

As the droid moved around to the end of the table after presenting Obi-Wan with a drink, Hes very suddenly moaned and touched his forehead, inadvertently knocking his drink off the tray and onto the floor.

"Hes? What's wrong?" Qui-Gon asked.

Hes shook his head back and forth, as the sudden spike of pain continued to increase.

"Something… dark! I can… feel-"

He focused in on source of where it was hurting, using a meditation technique to dull the pain away. Breathing a sigh of relief, he glanced at both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, giving them an assuring look that he was fine.

"I'm alright. That was… painful. I could sense a menacing presence through the Force. Dark. Very… very dark," he vocalized.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan looked at each other, both with clear expressions of great concern on their faces.

Meanwhile, the two Neimoidians sent a message to their employer. The hologram of the mysteriously dark hooded figure stood with his arms crossed and his hands clasped in the sleeves of his black robes, a similar gesture to that of the Jedi.

"Yes, Viceroy, what is it?" he demanded.

Daultay Dofine, who was trembling pitifully behind Gunray, nervously spoke.

"This scheme of yours has failed, Lord Sidious. The blockade is finished, we dare not go against the Jedi."

The hooded figure scowled with utter disgust.

"Viceroy, I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again!"

The Neimoidian let his head droop as he turned to leave. The Viceroy turned to face Sidious once more, who continued.

"This turn of events is unfortunate. We must accelerate our plans. Begin landing your troops," he commanded.

The Viceroy stood in thought for a moment. "And the Jedi?"

Sidious grimaced at this. "The Chancellor should never have brought them into this!" he spat. "Kill them immediately!"

The Viceroy bowed to him. "Ah- yes- yes, my lord. As you wish."

The hologram then shimmered out of existence as the transmission ended.

In the hangar, the co-pilot heard a loud noise coming from outside their ship, and glanced up in horror.

"Captain, look!" he shouted, as a blaster turret was lowered down from the ceiling.

"Shields!" shouted the captain, as the turret targeted their vessel.

But it was too late. The weapon fired, and the cruiser instantly exploded in a shower of sparks and flames.

The three Jedi felt the pulse of energy radiate through the Force.

"They hit the ship!" Hes exclaimed, as they all jumped up from their seats, igniting their lightsabers in unison.

Suddenly, the room began to fill with a heavy, toxic green smoke.

"Dioxis," Qui-Gon said, as the three of them turned off their lightsabers and held their breath, letting the thick smoke engulf them.

Outside in the hallway, a unit of battle droids approached the door to the conference room. They stopped short as a hologram of the Viceroy appeared.

"They must be dead by now. Destroy what's left of them," he commanded.

As the image vanished, the droids turned to face the doors as they opened to reveal a wall of thick toxic green smoke just in front of them.

"Check it out, Corporal. We'll cover you," the commander droid ordered to another.

"Roger, roger."

As the droid stepped toward the open doorway, three shafts of light appeared from within the smoke filled room.

"Blast them!" the commander droid shouted, and battle droids opened fire.

The blaster bolts were easily deflected back at them as Obi-Wan and Hes leapt out the room, their lightsabers spinning and twirling wildly as all three Jedi cut down the droids effortlessly. Hes, reaching out with the Force, raised his hand and disabled a few droids on his right, throwing them backwards onto the floor.

Hearing the commotion from the bridge, the Viceroy turned to the ship's pilot.

"What in blazes is going on down there?"

Suddenly the signal feed was cut, and the pilot looked back at him.

"We lost the transmission, sir," she replied.

"I want droidekas up here, immediately! The Jedi must not be allowed on this bridge!"

Gunray's right hand, Rune Haako, glanced at him as both Neimoidians motioned towards the bridge entrance.

"We won't survive this," he said.

The Viceroy looked at him. "How do you know?"

Haako gave a nervous stare.

"Have you ever encountered a Jedi Knight before?"

Gunray shrugged. "Well, no. But I don't-"

The pilot suddenly interrupted them. "Sir!"

She pointed to hallway just beyond the two doors.

The three Jedi continued cutting down battle droids in their path as they made their way to the bridge. As they neared the entrance, Hes turned his face to look at the Viceroy, who was starring at him with an expression of sheer panic. With a battle-like cry, Hes lunged forward and leapt headlong at the open doorway.

"Seal off the bridge!" commanded the Viceroy. "HURRY!"

Hes flew at them with inhuman speed, his lightsaber angled at the ready, as the two Neimoidians stood frozen to the spot shaking in terror, the Jedi having a clear way through the wide-open space. He was home free.

** _ **BONG!**_ **

Gunray and Haako smirked at one another in amusement.

"Oooh! That'll hurt!" the Viceroy joked, seeing a circular depression form inwards across the door paneling, as the two Neimoidians chucked under their breath.

Hes had barely any time to use the Force to angle his body so that his feet slammed into the door, punching a massive sized indentation into the outer paneling. He pushed off with his legs, and back flipped over a battle droid, slicing it vertically in half as he landed.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan moved in front of the now mangled door and began cutting into it with their lightsabers as Hes continued to dismantle battle droids left and right.

Gunray turned to the pilot. "Close the blast doors!" he ordered.

As Qui-Gon continued to cut through the thick metal doors with his lightsaber, he all of sudden heard the sound of a second set of doors partially trying to close, as well as a third set of blast doors closing just beyond the first two. He and Obi-Wan glanced at each other and nodded.

Gunray looked at the pilot. "That will hold them!"

Hes finished destroying the remaining battle droids, as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan thrust the blades of their weapons into the center of the doors. As the extreme heat from the lightsabers melted away the thick metal, the Neimoidians were starring at what was happening in total shock and disbelief.

"They are still coming through!"

The Viceroy seeing this, flew into an uncontrollable panic.

"This isn't possible! Someone help me! I don't want to die here!" he shrieked, as he frantically scanned the bridge, desperately yearning for a place to hide away, before found none.

Suddenly, three destroyer droids rolled down the hallway and headed straight for the Jedi as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were almost through to the bridge.

Hes turned to alert them.

"Master, destroyers!" he shouted, as he twirled his lightsaber and sidestepped to Obi-Wan's left, with Qui-Gon moving to the right flank.

The destroyer droids unfolded themselves and began firing on the Jedi as Hes, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan deflected blaster bolts away with their weapons.

"They have shield generators!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, as the droids' blasters continued pumping out rounds.

After a few moments, both the droids and the Jedi remained at an impasse, as neither were gaining the upper hand.

"It's a stand off. Let's go," said Qui-Gon.

With a quick burst of speed, all three Jedi raced down the hallway to make their escape.

Haako looked at Gunray. "They're no match for droidekas."

The Viceroy let out huge sigh of relief.

"That was a close one. I was so sure we were dead," he replied.

The pilot immediately caught his ear.

"Sir! They've gone up the ventilation shaft!" she said.

In the hangar, the Jedi dropped down to ground level from one of the air vents that was suspended about fifty feet or more overhead along one of the walls, and took cover behind a number of cargo containers. What they saw shocked them.

"Battle droids," Qui-Gon exclaimed.

Obi-Wan nodded. "It's an invasion army."

Hes looked at the numerous units of droids and war vessels in disbelief. "Why are they doing this? What could they possibly hope to gain from this maneuver?"

Qui-Gon shook his head. "I don't know. But this is most certainly an odd play for the Trade Federation. We've got to warn the Naboo, and contact Chancellor Valorum. Let's split up. Stow aboard separate ships, and meet down on the planet."

Hes turned and slowly crept to the left side of one of the containers.

"Psst! I call dibs," he whispered back, pointing to the nearest ship.

Qui-Gon shook his head and let out a small chuckle. "Kids."

Obi-Wan continued to watch as the army of battle droids were being loaded onto the ships, then turned to look at his mentor.

"You were right about one thing, Master. The negotiations were short."

Qui-Gon smirked. "More battle humor."


	3. Ch 2 - The Swamplands

Author's Note: Sorry if it may be awhile in between publishing chapters. I'm rather slow at writing. You know, trying to get the writing as correct as I possibly can in terms of grammar, spelling, etc. I'm also a bit of a perfectionist. Once again, sorry.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **The Swamplands**

On the bridge of the cargo freighter, the pilot turned to face Gunray. "Sir, we're receiving a transmission from the planet."

The Viceroy stood nervously in contemplation for a brief moment, and then turned his attention to the pilot.

"Ignore the transmission! We need to scour the whole ship, and find those Jedi, immediately!"

The pilot nodded in reply. "Yes, sir."

Haako looked at the Viceroy. "Sir, they may have already found a way to escape. And if they get to the Queen, they'll send out-"

Gunray abruptly stopped him. "It's too late now!" he declared.

Haako gave a worried look. "Do you think the Jedi have discovered our plan?"

The Viceroy shook his head.

"I don't know. But we must move quickly to jam any and all communications down there, in case they have."

Meanwhile, dozens of Federation landing craft departed the two hangars, and headed down towards the planet's surface. As remaining craft touched down on the ground of Naboo's vast wetlands, a battle droid turned to face the holograms of both Gunray and Haako who appeared.

"Yes, Viceroy?" the droid asked.

"Captain, we've searched the whole ship, and there is no trace of the Jedi. They may have gotten onto one of your landing craft," Haako stated.

"If they're down here, sir, we'll find them," the droid replied, nodding. "We are moving out of the swamps, and are marching on the city. We are meeting no resistance."

The Viceroy gave a _be-on-guard_ type of expression.

"Use caution. These Jedi are not to be underestimated," he advised, as the hologram of the two Neimoidians flickered and then disappeared.

Qui-Gon ran passed the trees, dodging hordes of frightened and fleeing wildlife as a large number droid transports were practically on his heels, knocking over anything and everything in their path as they moved through swamp.

** _ **WAM!**_ **

He suddenly slammed into a young Gungan who was panicking at the sight of what was coming towards him, and they both fell to the ground as a droid transport passed directly over their heads.

As the transport continued on, Qui-Gon stood up and noticed the Gungan was laying unconscious.

Checking to make sure he wasn't hurt, the Jedi Master gently dragged the Gungan over to a safer location, so that the droids wouldn't spot him.

He then turned and walked off.

Hes bolted through the marshes with lightning-quick speed, while using the Force to further propel himself, as he zigzagged to avoid the oncoming blaster fire that was being directed at him, which all seemed to move in very slow motion around him while he sprinted along at a relatively normal pace.

He chuckled inwardly to himself as he glanced back at his droid pursuers. ' _Ha-ha! Slowpokes!_ '

After a while of continuously making like a roadrunner, he stopped to catch his breath for an instant or two, and then jumped down over a narrow ledge to the lower ground level a few yards below, patiently waiting as a STAP soon passed by overhead.

As he peered around a corner, a squad of battle droids approached his position.

One of the droids turned in his immediate direction, and Hes ducked back under cover. He took a moment to examine his surroundings more closely and carefully, and then spotted a way he could get around all those battle droids without alerting the rest of the invasion forces.

He sped off in the opposite direction of the droids, again using the Force in conjunction with his superpowers, moving several times faster than any Jedi could ever do when simply using the ability known as Force Speed to assist them.

Obi-Wan silently and stealthily exited the landing craft he had stowed away on, looking around to make sure he wasn't spotted.

After a while of gingerly making his way through the bushes, he all of a sudden heard a faint sound that stopped him dead in his tracks. Turning his head, he saw several squads of droids in the near distance that were proceeding in his direction.

Thinking fast, Obi-Wan ran behind a tree trunk and kept very, very still, allowing the droids to pass by him without incident. He turned and slowly backed away a few yards off until he was sure the coast was clear.

Turning around once more, he sprinted hard in the opposite direction, hoping to put as much distance between him and the droids as he could. But it was not to last, as he made his way along the tree lines, stepping into an ankle deep waterhole and splashing his robes, thus inadvertently alerting the enemy of his presence.

He reached for his lightsaber, but discovered it was missing from his belt, failing to notice when it had slipped and fallen into the water directly underfoot. He quickly snatched up his weapon and pressed his thumb on the activation switch, preparing to do battle with the approaching forces.

 _Nothing._

Obi-Wan quickly looked over the hilt, examining it closely. As he glanced up from inspecting the weapon, he became aware that he had been noticed by a battle droid that was speeding towards him on a STAP immediately in front of him.

"Sithspit!" he cursed to himself.

Placing the lightsaber back onto his belt, Obi-Wan turned and ran for it, dodging the blaster fire as it came at him relentlessly from behind.

As Qui-Gon strode through the tall underbrush, his comlink suddenly went off.

He removed it from his belt, activating it. "Yes?"

Hes' voice came out loud and clear through the receiver.

"Qui-Gon, it's me. I'm very nearly there, approaching the capital city. I can just make it out from here. Where are you?"

Qui-Gon looked around at the immediate area, and signaled back.

"About fifty plus klicks out from the city, due northwest. Stay where you are, and don't do anything until we get there."

Hes nodded. "Got it. Just… try not to take too long, alright?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, switching off his comlink and placing it back on his belt.

Suddenly, a high-toned voice rang out.

"Hello! Hello!"

The Jedi Master turned to find the young Gungan jogging up to him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked in an irritated tone of voice.

The Gungan simply smiled. "Mesa culled Jar Jar Binks. Yousa sav-ed my back dar."

Qui-Gon turned his head towards him with a look of annoyance on his face. "You almost got us killed. Are you brainless?"

Before the Gungan could say anything, Obi-Wan came running at them in full sprint with a droid piloted STAP hot on his heals.

Binks saw the blaster fire coming at him and panicked. "OH, NO!"

"Stay down," ordered Qui-Gon, as he pulled his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it.

The droid fired at them again as he deflected the oncoming bolts back to their origin point, thus causing both the vehicle and the droid to blow up, before skidding across the swamp grounds.

Jar Jar stood up, and looked at Qui-Gon. "Yousa sav-ed my again."

Obi-Wan strode up to them.

"What's a Gungan doing here?"

Qui-Gon shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I literally ran into him a ways back there. Come on, let's get out of here before more droids show up," he said.

Jar Jar looked around with worry. "Mure? "Mure" did you spake?!"

As the two Jedi trotted through the trees again, Binks called out to them.

"Ex-squeeze-me, but de mostest safest place would be Gunga City. 'Tis where I grew up. 'Tis a hidden city."

The two Jedi both halted in their run.

Qui-Gon turned around to face Jar Jar. "A city?"

Binks nodded.

"Can you take us there?" the Jedi asked.

The Gungan thought for a moment and then suddenly seemed nervous. "Ahhh… on second taut… no, not willy not," he replied.

Qui-Gon gave an astonished look. "No?!"

Jar Jar's head drooped, then he looked up at the Jedi again.

"'Tis embarrissing, but, ah… my afrai my have bean banished. My forgoten. Der Bosses would do terrible tings to my. Terrible tings to my if my goen back dar."

Qui-Gon turned and gestured with his hand as the sound of rumbling could be heard in the distance. "You hear that?"

The Gungan briefly lifted his very large ear as the noise slowly faded into silence. "Yah."

The two Jedi started motioning forward as he stepped back, not quite sure what was going on.

"That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way," said Qui-Gon, as Obi-Wan moved closer, practically getting right into Bink's face.

"If they find us, they will crush us, grind us into tiny pieces, and then _blast_ us into oblivion!"

Jar Jar stood in deep thought for a moment. "Oh! Yousa point is well seen!"

As Binks whirled around, Obi-Wan barely had but an instant to duck and dodge, before the Gungan's large ear nearly slapped him in the face.

"Dis way! Hurry!"

On the cargo freighter, both the Viceroy and Haako spoke with Sidious concerning the current proceedings of their plan.

"The invasion is on schedule, my lord," Gunray stated.

The Dark Lord nodded. "Excellent. I have the Senate bogged down in procedures. They will have no choice but to accept your control over the system."

"But the Queen has great faith that the Senate will side with her," remarked Gunray.

Sidious smirked at this. "Queen Amidala is young and naive. You will find controlling her will not be difficult," he declared.

Gunray bowed to the Dark Lord. "Yes, my lord," he replied, as the hologram flickered out of existence.

Haako glanced at the Viceroy. "You didn't tell him about the missing Jedi."

Gunray stared at him, unsettled. "No need to report that to him until we have something to report," he said.

Meanwhile, Hes patiently waited just beyond the swamp's edge, where the border between the wetlands and the city of Theed was located.

He sat on the ground with his legs crossed, closing his eyes and focused on the Force to allow it to guide him. As he meditated, a vast dark wall of thick storm clouds swept over the horizon, blocking the sun's rays entirely from view.

Lightning split the sky apart as tiny drops of rain began to gradually fall.

Hes opened his eyes, seeing that he was no longer on Naboo, but instead on a world that was quite familiar to him. As he glanced around, unsure of his immediate surroundings, a faint noise caught his attention, and he whirled around in it's immediate direction.

There, lying just several yards away on the side of a deserted stretch of road, was a baby.

Hes tried to get closer to the small bundle that was very much in distress, but for some reason or other, couldn't.

And then, as suddenly as they had come, the rain ceased, and the storm clouds parted back over the horizon, taking the anguished cries of the infant with them.

Hes once again found himself on the borderlands between the Naboo swamp and the capital city of Theed. He could sense that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were close to the city now, and sped off in the direction of the capital, hoping to beat them to it before they arrived.


	4. Ch 3 - Taking Leave

Author's Note: You all may (or may not) have noticed how I often refer to Jar Jar Binks as "a young Gungan". I made him out to be younger in this in order to match his child-like personality, but also to be sort of a companion for little Anakin Skywalker at times.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Taking Leave**

Along a narrow tributary which ended in a giant cliff face that flowed within the capital, a Gungan submersible broke through the surface of the water, causing a number of pelikki to scatter to the winds.

As Qui-Gon stood up and looked around, he noticed that the sub was drifting closer and closer towards the falls.

"Get this thing started!"

Obi-Wan tried reigniting the engines of the vessel, but they merely ground to an abrupt halt.

Jar Jar looked behind him, and started to panic when he saw the waterfall, flailing his arms about wildly.

"There isn't enough power!" Obi-Wan shouted, as Qui-Gon pulled a grappling spike launcher from his belt and fired it into a nearby brick wall.

The two Jedi jumped into the water and gradually made their way along the cable, but failed to notice that the Gungan wasn't right behind them, as Jar Jar was still panicking inside the submersible.

As they both made it to safety, Qui-Gon turned to see Jar Jar still in the underwater vessel.

"Come on, Jar Jar! Move!" he shouted.

Binks climbed out of the sub, making his way to the edge.

"Mesa coming. Mesa coming," he replied back, before slipping and falling face first into the river with a resounding "Whaaa!".

As he swam towards the wall, the cable came loose and the submersible went over the edge of the waterfall, before smashing onto the rocks below.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan pulled the young Gungan up onto his feet. Then the trio made their way to the city's palace.

As Hes slowed to a casual jogging pace, he made his way up to a balcony overlooking one of the city streets. He looked out to see both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan coming his way.

Just then, the group heard the sound of battle droids approaching from below.

Qui-Gon signaled for all of them to take cover, and they crouched down low behind the railing, so as not to be spotted by the droids.

Hes motioned towards the two Jedi. "Hey. What kept you?"

Obi-Wan glanced at him briefly. "We, ah, ran into some old friends," he answered.

The boy looked past the two of them over to were Jar Jar was crouched, as the Gungan tilted his head to look at him, who then grinned and waved " _hello_ ".

Hes turned to Qui-Gon. "I didn't know you were bringing a tag-along," he said.

The Jedi Master motioned for them to move over to the walkway that was directly over-top of the approaching droids. The three then removed their lightsabers and leapt off the railing, coming to land down onto the street, their weapons simultaneously igniting.

Obi-Wan leapt off his feet, kicking a battle droid to the ground as Qui-Gon and Hes sliced a few others in half.

Qui-Gon cut down one more droid, before placing his deactivated lightsaber onto his belt. He reached out with the Force and pushed two more droids backwards into a nearby wall as both Obi-Wan and Hes disassembled the last of the battle droids, twirling their weapons a few times before replacing them on their hips.

Qui-Gon turned to face the Queen. "We should leave the streets, Your Highness, before more droids show up."

Hes glanced over his shoulder at them. "Or worse."

Everyone nodded at the Jedi in agreement. One of the guards pointed to the blasters that lay on the ground.

"Get their weapons."

The other guards immediately complied and everyone headed away from the main thoroughfare of the city.

"Help! Help! Someone, mesa need help!"

All of the guards looked around to see where the cries for help were emanating from.

"What's going on here?" one of them asked.

All three of the Jedi looked up to see Jar Jar hanging over the railing by his fingers.

"Jar Jar, you're fine. Just let go," Qui-Gon said, somewhat annoyed.

The Gungan shook his head. "No! Too scary!"

Hes looked at the Jedi Master. "I'll get him down. You all go on ahead."

The rest of the group walked onto a nearby road that was directly adjoined, and then Qui-Gon turned around face the governor, Sio Bibble, of Theed.

"We're ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor."

Jar Jar's sharp outcry of sheer surprise caught everybody off guard for a brief moment, as they all turned to see both him and Hes stroll up to them.

"Sorry about that. Had to practically yank him off by his toes," remarked Hes.

Jar Jar stuck his tongue out at the young Jedi at hearing this. The party turned back to Qui-Gon as the governor spoke.

"You're negotiations seemed to have failed, Ambassador," he said, sounding fairly disappointed.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "The negotiations never took place. It's urgent that we make contact with the Republic."

Governor Bibble looked other at the lead guard, Captain Panaka, who was standing nearest to the Queen.

"They've disabled our comm systems," stated the captain.

"Do you have transports?" Qui-Gon asked.

Panaka pointed to a building not far from their current position.

"In the main hangar. This way," he ushered to everyone.

As the whole group moved towards the hangar, the captain peered in the doorway, and way shocked by what he saw.

"There are too many of them."

Qui-Gon glanced in at the open doorway. "It won't be a problem," he replied.

Panaka gave him a concerned look.

"But there are destroyer droids in there. They looked to be guarding the ship, to keep it from taking off. They'll obliterate both it and us."

Hes stepped forward. "Leave that to me."

The captain laughed at the boy's comment.

"You? A boy? You won't last but mere seconds."

Hes gave a stern glare. "Watch me."

Sio looked worriedly at him. "Don't be a fool, boy. You'll get yourself killed."

Obi-Wan glanced at him. "Who's the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows it?"

Qui-Gon looked over at the Queen. "Your Highness, under these circumstances, I suggest that you come to Coruscant with us."

Amidala glanced up at him. "Thank you, Ambassador. But my place is with my people."

Hes looked at her. "That really isn't the wisest course of action, Your Highness," he said.

Qui-Gon nodded in agreement. "And it will kill you if you stay here."

Sio stood where he was, profoundly shocked. "They wouldn't dare!"

Panaka looked at the Jedi in earnest. "They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion of theirs legal! They can't afford to kill her!"

Qui-Gon looked at Amidala sharply. "There is something else behind all of this, Your Highness! There's absolutely no logic in the Federation's move here! My feelings tell me that they plan on destroying you, regardless of whether you sign their treaty or not!"

Sio suddenly had a look of pure fear in his eyes, realizing to his great horror that they had all been duped.

"Our only hope is for the Senate to side with us. Senator Palpatine will need your help," he insisted.

Amidala stared at him with a odd sense of calm. "Either choice presents great danger… to us all," she said, looking at her nearest handmaiden.

The handmaiden glanced back at her. "We are brave, Your Highness."

Amidala looked up at Qui-Gon again as he spoke.

"If you are to leave, Your Highness, it must be now."

The Queen gazed at the Jedi Master with a sense of determination.

"Then I will plead our case to the Senate."

As the group moved to enter the hangar, she glanced briefly at Sio. "Be careful, Governor."


	5. Ch 4 - Unexpected Detour 1

Author's Note: Next chapter's up. ! _PLEASE REVIEW_ ! And leave any developmental suggestions you might have, as well.

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Unexpected Detour #1**

As everyone entered the hangar, Panaka pointed to a number of men who were being held captive by a group of battle droids that surrounded them.

"We'll need to free those pilots."

Obi-Wan motioned with his hand. "I'll deal with that," he said.

As Qui-Gon walked towards a droid who was standing guard, Hes stealthily crept along the fall wall around the other side of the ship, to where three destroyer droids were blocking the ship's exit.

Qui-Gon stepped up to the battle droid as it raised it's hand, motioning for all of them to stop. "Halt!"

"I'm ambassador to the Supreme Chancellor. I'm taking these people to Coruscant," the Jedi Master stated.

The droid stared at the others for a moment, before scanning Qui-Gon more closely.

"You're not authorized to be here! You're under arrest!"

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan activated their lightsabers as the droids opened fire on them.

As the destroyer droids were about to join in the fray, Hes zipped past them just before their scanners detected his nearby presence.

Captain Panaka, who was hustling everyone into the Queen's ship as both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon continued dispatching the battle droids, turned to see the cyclonic blur of Hes as the young Jedi ran circles around the three destroyer droids.

As he did so, a immensely strong wind began to levitate the droids into the air, and once they had risen up a few meters off the ground, Hes quite abruptly halted his run, catching the droids with the Force and held them in place with his right hand. Then, to Panaka's great astonishment, he slowly curled his fingers together in the palm of his hand, thereby Force Crushing the destroyers into a mangled scrap pile.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan finished demolishing the remaining battle droids, as the last of the pilots boarded the ship, followed closely by the Queen's handmaidens.

As Hes continued crushing the destroyers, they surged, crackled, and sparked with electricity arcing from their internal components.

"She's gonna blow!" shouted Hes, and he flung his hand out towards the wide-open expanse beyond the hangar as all three destroyers exploded in the large fireball, their shredded metal parts falling onto the grass-covered landscape below.

Hes then turned around to face a slack-jawed Panaka, who stood frozen to the spot in awe. As the Jedi walked towards the ship, he lightly slapped the captain's blaster pistol in his hand.

"Safety's off," he uttered, and the blaster accidentally discharged at a pair of still functioning battle droid legs that were aimlessly wandering about, thus wrecking them and causing Panaka to snap out of his stupor.

"Told ya."

As one of the pilots, Ric Olié, raced into the cockpit and fired up the engines after everyone was on-board, Obi-Wan took Jar Jar down into the droid hold.

"Now, stay here. And keep out of trouble," he instructed.

Then he turned and left the room as Binks turned to face a group of astromech droids that were lined up in two separate rows along either wall.

"Hello, boyos," the Gungan exclaimed.

A blue and silver droid beeped and whistled at him in response.

Ric Olié fiddled with the ship's comm-panel, trying to get it working, but with ill-success.

"Our communications are still jammed."

As Qui-Gon and Hes entered the cockpit, they looked out of the viewport and saw a wall of huge Federation ships directly ahead, blocking their escape.

"There's the blockade," said Olié.

Obi-Wan stepped into the cockpit and stood next to his Master, and Hes looked a bit nervous as to whether or not they were going to make it past all of those ships.

Suddenly, a barrage of blaster cannon fire began striking the ship, causing it to shake violently. And then, the unthinkable happened. An alarm on the pilot's control panel instantly went off.

"Shield generator's been hit!"

In the droid hold below, an alarm started blaring as all eight of the astromechs rolled towards the lift tube that lead out onto the hull.

As the little blue and silver droid departed it's station, it accidentally rear-ended Jar Jar in the backside, causing him to leap off his feet in surprise.

"How wude!" exclaimed the Gungan, who glared at the droid.

Up on the outer hull, the astromechs frantically set to work repairing the shield generator, but were quickly blasted to bits one after the other by the Federation's turbo laser cannons.

"We're losing droids fast!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, seeing what was happening on a viewscreen.

"They can't get the shield's back online, we'll be sitting ducks," said Panaka.

Hes looked even more worried than before, as he watched the last of the astromechs being blown away, with the exception of only the blue and silver one remaining.

"The shields are gone," said Olié.

Hes looked at Qui-Gon for a brief moment before turning his gaze back to the viewscreen, a twinge of fear slowly and steadily creeping up from the bottom of his spine.

"Come on! Come on!" he muttered.

Suddenly they heard a loud metallic whooping sound, and power display on the control console turned from red to green, and the shields were now showing at full strength.

"Power's back!" Olié exclaimed in disbelief.

On the hull, the lone astromech finished making the necessary repairs to the damaged generator, before turning around and heading for the lift tube.

"That little droid did it! He bypassed the main power drive," Olié remarked.

As Qui-Gon breathed a sigh of relief, Hes very nearly stumbled over backwards, a tad shocked by their close call.

"Deflector shields up at maximum," Ric said, pressing a couple buttons on the panel.

The turbo lasers continued firing at the ship as it passed over the cargo freighter, and flew out of targeting range.

Ric looked at fuel display, discovering a problem with the engines.

"There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant. The hyperdrive is leaking," he stated.

Hes moved over to where Obi-Wan was now sitting, and glazed at the navigation charts on the ship's navicomputer.

"We'll have to land somewhere refuel and repair the ship," said Qui-Gon.

Obi-Wan glanced over his shoulder at him.

"Here, Master. Tatooine. It's small, out of the way, poor. The Trade Federation have no presence there," he suggested as Qui-Gon walked over.

"How can you be sure?" Panaka asked, uncertain about this.

Hes eyed the screen more closely, pouring over what little information there was. "It appears to be controlled by the Hutts."

The captain spun around in his seat at hearing this. "You can't take Her Royal Highness there, the Hutts are gangsters! If they discover her-"

Qui-Gon cut the captain off prematurely as he turned to look at him.

"It would be no different than if we landed on a system that was controlled by the Federation, except that the Hutts aren't looking for her, which gives us the advantage," he said.

Panaka took a deep break in frustration.


	6. Ch 5 - Hescand's Past

Author's Note: Sorry that I took so long with this. It's probably a really ratter crappy chapter, so please review and let me know how to make it better. As I said before, this is my first ever fiction writing, so I'm not really any good with this. Sorry.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Hescand's Past**

On-board the Federation cargo freighter, Viceroy Gunray and Rune Haako reported to Sidious on their progress.

"We control all the cities in the North and are searching for any other settlements," Gunray noted.

"Destroy all high-ranking officials, Viceroy. Slowly…quietly," ordered Sidious.

The Viceroy nodded in reply. "Yes, my lord," he responded.

"And Queen Amidala, has she signed the treaty?" the Dark Lord then asked.

Gunray suddenly looked mighty nervous at hearing this question.

"S-she h-has disappeared, m-my lord," he stammered. "O-one Naboo c-cruiser got p-passed the b-blockade."

Sidious snarled at this most unfortunate news. "Viceroy, find her! I want that treaty signed," he commanded.

Gunray was getting more and more nervous by the minute.

"M-my lord, i-it's impossible t-to locate the s-ship. It's out of our range. Queen Amidala w-was aided b-by the Jedi in h-her escape," he confessed.

Sidious fumed at this development. "WHAT!?" he exploded.

Both Neimoidians turned their faces away, cowering in fear.

"I specifically ordered you to _kill_ them! Not allow them to escape!"

Haako nervously spoke up, quivering. "Please, my lord. Our droids could not defeat them. They were simply too strong," he uttered.

Sidious' rage diminished a little bit, though he was still angry.

"Not for the Sith," he remarked in a low, but tempered tone of voice.

Promptly, the image of a male Zabrak, who's face was entirely covered over in black and red tattoos, appeared standing next to him.

"This is my apprentice, _Darth Maul_. He will find the Jedi, _and_ your lost ship."

As the holograms of the two Sith Lords vanished, Gunray looked over at Haako with much great concern.

"This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them."

Haako glanced at the Viceroy with relatively the same conviction. "We should not have made this bargain," he agreed.

On the Naboo royal starship, the three Jedi, Captain Panaka, and the little astromech droid stood in the center of the Queen's throne room, as the captain told Amidala of the droid's brave heroics in saving both the vessel, as well as it's passengers and crew.

"It is to be commended," the Queen announced. "What is it's number?"

The small astromech droid chirped and beeped in response to her question.

"R2-D2, Your Highness," the captain translated.

Amidala smiled at the droid. "Thank you, R2-D2," she said.

Artoo replied with a series of happy chirping sounds that could only be translated as meaning " _you're welcome_ ".

"Padmé," the Queen voiced, and a young girl walked over to stand beside the little droid.

"Clean this droid up as best you can. It deserves our gratitude."

Artoo whistled in response.

The Queen looked up at Panaka once again. "Continue, Captain."

The captain turned to look at the Jedi as Qui-Gon stepped forward to address her.

"Your Highness, with your permission, we're heading for a remote planet called Tatooine. It's in a system far beyond the reach of the Trade Federation."

Panaka looked quite sternly at the Queen with great disapproval at the Jedi's request.

"I do not agree with the Jedi on this," he voiced rather objectively.

"You must trust my judgment, Your Highness," Qui-Gon stated solemnly.

As the handmaiden, Padmé, took the astromech into the main cargo hold of the ship, they found Hes sitting on his knees in the center of the room with his eyes shut.

"Hello," she greeted him, with the Padawan nodding back in response.

The girl stared at him for a moment, a little bit confused. "What are you doing?"

Hes opened his eyes and looked at her directly. "Meditating," he answered.

Padmé felt a little distressed, thinking she shouldn't have disturbed his concentration. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

Hes slightly lowered his head with his eyes once again closed, as he raised his hand up, signaling for her to be silent. Smiling, he then got to his feet, and stood straight up.

"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong," he politely reassured her.

Crossing over, the young Padawan Learner reached out to shake her hand. "Hi. I'm Hes. Hescand Starrgazer."

Padmé's intuition promptly told her that something was off about this. "That's not your real name, is it?"

Hes sighed, then cleared his throat, shaking his head.

"No. My real name is Joshua Varner. I'm actually from a planet known as Earth. It's a world that resides along ways away from here."

The handmaiden looked at him rather curiously after hearing this.

"How did you get all the way out here, then? Were you brought here by someone? Did anyone come with you?" she probed.

Hes groaned heavily, hoping that he wouldn't have to tell his story of how he arrived in their time all over again, wishing he could just simply forget it all.

"Well, actually, it all started a couple of years back, when I was attending school one afternoon on my home-world."

As the handmaiden sat cleaning the R2 unit, Hes told her that while he and his classmates, along with the rest of the school, were participating in what everyone thought was just a routine fire safety drill, a volatile part of the building actually caught on fire, right before everyone was momentarily blinded by a massive explosion.

Padmé gasped as she put a hand up to her mouth at hearing that part of the tale, as tears began forming in her eyes. "Did anyone-"

Hes abruptly stopped her, looking a little downcast.

"Yes, unfortunately. A number of people did get injured, some even severely so. And… there were a few casualties. But, thank the Force none of the students themselves were killed or fatally wounded by the immediate blast."

As he continued, the boy explained that after seemingly being knocked into unconsciousness due to the explosion, he mysteriously found himself waking up sometime later inside of a body bag, with no idea as to how or why he was there, and somehow subsequently managing to get out of the bag before suffocating to death.

"Wait a minute. I thought you said none of the students died," Padmé interrupted, wiping her eyes. "That would include you."

Hes nodded at her understandably.

"Initially, I thought so, as well. But after waking up in the morgue, I soon discovered that I was believed to have been one of the victims of the bombing. At first, I even thought that _I_ too was dead, but then I almost instantly grasped that I was very much alive due to the fact that I was still breathing, and then managed to, rather surprisingly, sneak out of there undetected. Although, I'm sure the staff began frantically looking for me once they discovered I wasn't there anymore."

The young Jedi told the handmaiden that he then went to find some answers as to what had happened and why. Although, he wasn't quite sure, but he felt as if something invisible was pushing him to search for answers, driving him, instead of him just looking for a means to go back home to his family. He managed to sneak into a records office, and find what he was looking for, to a certain extent, that is.

"Apparently, some wack job placed a bomb in the school on the day of the fire drill. The school had gotten bomb threats a few weeks prior, but out of sheer luck for the bomber's sake, they never found the explosives before the damn thing went off that day."

Hes also explained to her that he came across some very recent pictures of the crime-scene, and was rather shocked at the images concerning the amount of devastation that they depicted. Even worse, he had seen snapshots of his "body" that appear to have been taken quite recently, and the horrid condition that it looked to be in, with multiple cuts, bruises, and burns to his face, arms, head, neck, and hands. He stood there for a brief moment, frozen. He couldn't understand it. How had he not only survived, but was miraculously healed of all his wounds and injuries within such a short span of time? The only conclusion that he could draw upon was that it indeed _was_ a miracle that saved his life, but why? And for what purpose? He was now more determined than ever to find out.

"After I put everything back just as I had found it, I got out of that place as fast, or faster, than I even knew I could move. That was the first time I discovered that I possessed superhuman abilities. Whatever happened that day at school, the impact from my head hitting the solid ground, as well as the affects of the bomb, must have done something abnormal to my brain. After that, the first thought that crossed my mind was to just go home, but then I realized that if my family had heard the news of what had happened at the school, they wouldn't know that I survived, and they would probably freak out if I simply came walking up to them at the front door. And that's when I just knew… I was on my own from now on."

Padmé wiped the streaming tears from her eyes. "Were you afraid to be on your own?" she asked.

Hes smiled gently at her, and leaned forward, embracing her in a soft squeeze.

"I'll admit, I was nervous. What ten-year-old wouldn't be. But I was smart enough to look after myself. Didn't have to be on my own long, though," he said.

As the handmaiden was finishing up with cleaning the astromech, she glanced up at Hes once more. "What happened to you after that?"

Hes sighed. "A few hours after leaving the morgue, as I was walking along a side street, trying to figure out what to do and where to go from there, I came across a wooden fence with a latched door that led into a darkened back-alleyway. Except, that there was something very strange about it. The edges around the door-panel where glowing, and I thought it was rather odd for something like that to even happen."

Padmé eyed him curiously. "What then? Did you-"

Hes let out a small chuckle, and grinned.

"What else? I opened the door and stepped through it. The light that shown through blinded me momentarily before it dissipated. And once it vanished, I found to my great surprise that I was no longer standing in the alley, but instead on a large stair walkway directly in front of a massive structure with mile-high towers, and very big statues that looked be guarding the entrance."

"Coruscant. That's how you found your way to Coruscant, and the Jedi Temple," Padmé surmised.

The young Jedi nodded. "Right, you are," he declared. "It's taken me awhile, but I've since come to both gradually and genuinely understand that it was actually the Force itself that led me here. As for the intended purpose as to why, well I'm still not entirely certain on that yet."

Padmé breathed a long sigh, thinking back to Hes telling her the part about the bombing of the school. "Did they ever find who did it?"

Hes let out a dismal sigh of his own, knowing full-well what she was talking about. "No," he replied softly, shaking his head.

The handmaiden shook her head, still somewhat in disbelief over the school bombing. "Why would anyone willfully do something like that?"

Hes, shaking his head, sighed in great bewilderment. "There are just some very crazy people out there every once in awhile who do some very crazy things. I doubt we'll ever know the reason why?"

Suddenly, they both heard a noise coming from just behind them, and the two looked over to see Jar Jar peering out from behind the door.

"Hello. Sorry. Husa are yousa?" the Gungan asked, looking at Padmé.

The handmaiden smiled at him sweetly. "I'm Padmé," she answered.

Jar Jar grinned back. "Mesa Jar Jar Binks."

Padmé slightly nodded to him curiously. "You're a Gungan, are you?"

Binks nodded his head. "Uh-huh," he answered.

"How'd you end up here with us?" asked Padmé.

The Gungan shook his head with uncertainty. "My no know."

Hes scoffed at his reply. "What are you talking about? Of course you know."

Jar Jar looked at him. "No my don't."

"Yes, you do," Hes remarked, staring at him.

The Gungan glared back. "No my don't."

"Yes, you do," the Jedi repeated, much more sternly this time.

The two then started going at each other, back and forth, saying the same things over and over again. Finally, Padmé shook her head, and rolling her eyes in complete annoyance, angrily stood up.

"All right, that is enough!" she yelled, causing both of them to stop and look at her. "Do I need to separate you two?"

Jar Jar momentarily glanced at Hes, sticking his tongue out at him. The young Padawan Learner, catching sight of this out of the corner of his eye, turned his head and did the same in return.

Padmé fumed at the sight of their childish behavior. "I'm going to slap you both if you don't cut it out this instant!"

Both Jar Jar and Hes turned to stare at her, their fingers each pointed directly at the other.

"He started it!" they exclaimed in unison.


	7. Ch 6 - The Spaceport

Author's Note: This next chapter is finally up. _PLEASE REVIEW!_

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **The Spaceport**

Ric Olié looked out of the viewport at the dust-covered planet as the Queen's ship flew ever closer towards it. "That's it- Tatooine," he remarked.

Obi-Wan studied the geographical scans of the surrounding landscape on his instrument-panel.

"There's a settlement," he stated, as Qui-Gon stared out at the nearly desolate world directly in front of them.

"Land near the outskirts. We don't want to attract any attention to ourselves," the Jedi Master advised.

As the landing struts retracted and the ship touched down onto the dry barren surface, both Qui-Gon and Hes changed into more suitable attire that was most feasible for the planet's climate. The Jedi Master glanced over at the young Padawan for a moment.

"You know, you might want to do something about your braid if you're to come along with me, Hes. We can't be recognized while here on this planet."

The boy nodded, and placed two fingers up to his hair, touching the strands that made up his Padawan braid. As he did so, his braid began to shrink until the piece that held it together slipped off, falling onto the floor and the braid itself becoming no longer visible.

"Nice trick," said Qui-Gon, amazed at the boy's potential.

Hes looked at him. "Organic manipulation," he replied. "I've been researching the many different applications that are closely associated with telekinesis in my spare time apart from my training."

Qui-Gon nodded as the two of them moved into the main hold where Obi-Wan was busy examining the ship's hyperdrive generator, or rather, what remained of it.

"The hyperdrive generator's gone, Master," Obi-Wan stated, who looked up from inspecting the machinery. "We'll need a new one."

Hes quickly gave the generator a once over. "If we can find a new one, that is," he added.

Qui-Gon sighed. "That'll complicate things."

He glanced behind him at where Hes was standing as all three suddenly felt something strange. "Be wary. I sense a disturbance in the Force," he declared, looking back at Obi-Wan.

"I feel it also, Master," replied his apprentice, nodding.

Hes sternly nodded as well. "As do I."

"Don't let them send any transmissions," Qui-Gon instructed to Obi-Wan, as he, Hes, Jar Jar, and R2-D2 all turned to leave the ship.

As the four exited the Queen's ship and stepped out into blazing heat of the desert terrain, Hes squirted at the unnaturally bright glare of the planet's twin suns.

Jar Jar, however, was the first to complain about the scorching temperatures. "This sun doen murder to mesa skin," he muttered, stroking his arms.

Suddenly, a voice called out to them from behind. "Wait!" The group turned to see Captain Panaka and Padmé striding up to them. "Wait. Her Royal Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you," said the captain.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "No more commands from Her Highness today, Captain. This spaceport is not going to be pleasant," he stated, and turned away.

"The Queen wishes it. She's curious about the planet," Panaka insisted strongly as he turned back.

Both Hes and Jar Jar looked at each other for a moment, before turning to look at Padmé.

Qui-Gon sighed. "This is not a good idea. Stay close to me," he instructed the handmaiden.

As the captain turned and walked back to the ship, Padmé stepped towards the Jedi Master, signaling him to lean in close to her, indicating that she wanted to say something in private.

"That's not the only reason I wanted to come out here. Keep a sharp eye on those two," she said, almost whispering to him as she pointed to both Hes and Jar Jar, who were looking strangely at them. "I practically had to put them in a timeout earlier."

Qui-Gon looked over towards where Hes and Jar Jar where standing. "Hes, come over here next to her," he ordered. The Padawan did as he was told, although with a slight air of annoyance and a near poutful expression on his face. As he walked over to Padmé, the Jedi then turned his focus on the Gungan. "Jar Jar, come here." Binks shook his head defiantly. All of sudden, he felt his body being violently yanked forward as Qui-Gon instantly Force Pulled him over to his right.

The young Gungan tripped, almost falling flat on his face before regaining his footing. He looked at Qui-Gon, who gave a very stern scowl. "Now," commanded the Jedi.

Binks huffed as Qui-Gon moved past him, and the five of them turned around and started walking towards the settlement once again.

Padmé glanced directly to her left at Hes. "Now, please, do try to behave yourself," she uttered, almost like she was giving a direct order.

The young Padawan rolled his eyes at her. "Yes, Mom!" he replied, sarcastically.

** _WACK!_ **

Hes was promptly taken aback as Padmé's hand came into contact with his face. "Quiet!" she scolded.

As the group made their way into the settlement, Qui-Gon was telling the young handmaiden about the different types of commoners that either moved through or inhabited few spaceports such as that, and how they were considered to be havens for anyone who simply wanted to disappear from the watchful eyes of the galaxy.

Walking a little ways further, the Jedi turned to his left and spotted a junk store some distance off. "We'll try one of the smaller dealers," he said, making huge strides towards the entrance.

Strolling in, the five members were greeted by the shop's owner, a Toydarian named Watto. "What do you want?" he asked in the Huttese language.

"I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian," answered Qui-Gon, approaching him. "My droid has a readout of what I need."

Watto nodded, then turned and shouted something over his shoulder. A moment later, a tiny boy came running into the shop. Hes almost immediately felt something strange about him when he first saw the petite child. Other than the fact that he looked to be around five years of age, due to his physical stature, the Padawan sensed an incredibly strong connection to the Force within this boy, _WAY_ stronger than even himself perhaps.

As the Toydarian directed Qui-Gon to the junkyard out back of his store, the Jedi Master snatched something from Jar Jar, as the Gungan was getting all too grabby, curiously handling anything and everything that was within his reach. "Don't touch anything," he berated.

Binks huffed and stuck out his tongue at Qui-Gon, who had turned to follow Watto, with R2-D2 closely trailing behind. He then turned and walked over to a deactivated pit droid that was sitting on a shelf. As he curiously pushed a large round button on the droid's center, it all of sudden sprang to life. Jar Jar tried desperately to catch the slippery little thing, but kept tripping other everything that had gotten knocked off the shelf.

The three youths immediately turned their attention towards the Gungan as he fumbled about the shop.

"Hey! Hit the nose," the little boy called out, as Jar Jar managed to grab the droid by it's neck. The pit droid responded with a swift kick of it's leg, which caught Binks right in the cojones.

Hes began chuckling at the mere sight of the Gungan's pathetic antics, when a hand suddenly swung out and struck him on the back of his head. "Ow!" He turned around and looked to see a very angry Padmé glaring at him.

Outside in the junkyard, Watto told the Jedi that he was the only merchant around who had a usable hyperdrive generator for sale. He also asked how Qui-Gon was planning to pay for the parts.

"I have twenty-thousand Republic dataries," answered Qui-Gon.

The Toydarian shook his head. "Republic credits are no good out here. I need something more real," he countered.

Qui-Gon made a slight motion with his hand. "I don't have anything else, but credits will do fine."

"No. They won't," Watto said. "What, you think you're some kinda Jedi waving your hand around like that? I'm a Toydarian. Mind tricks don't work on me. Only money does." He hovered closer towards Qui-Gon, pointing his grimy finger at him. "No money, no parts, no deal." The astromech beeped in protest. "And no one else has a T-14 hyperdrive generator, I promise you that."

After a moment, Qui-Gon nodded good-bye, then he and R2-D2 turned to go back through the junk store.

Back in the shop, the little boy was telling Padmé about how he was a pilot, and how he was planning to one day fly off-world to escape the wretched life of a slave that he currently lived. Hes' fists balled-up tightly at hearing this revelation. He had seen more than his fair share of slavery in the galaxy on other worlds that he had previously visited. And whenever he told the Council about what he had witnessed, they simply ignored the matter altogether, stating that said worlds were outside the jurisdictional boundaries of the Republic.

"So, how long have you been living here?" Padmé asked the little boy.

"Since I was very young. Three, I think," he answered. "My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us to Watto from betting on the Podraces."

Hes walked closer to him. "How old are you?"

"I'm nine," the little boy answered.

Hes got a surprised look on his face, feeling a slight twig of embarrassment at the fact that he was so totally wrong about the child's age.

The little boy cocked his head to the side, looking curiously at him. "Is something wrong?"

Hes shook his head. "No," he answered at once. "It's just that, um, well… you look… younger… than nine."

Padmé smiled at the little boy who scowled at the Padawan's comment which seemed to have insulted him. She fought hard to suppress a giggle at how very cute he looked with a mad expression on his face.

"I'm not a baby, if that's what your saying!" he asserted in a ratter loud tone of voice.

The handmaiden couldn't hold it back any longer, as she giggled at how adorable the little boy appeared while upset. Except when she did giggle, it came out almost child-like in itself.

Seeing this made the child's expression change from being mad to an almost pouty look as he allowed his head to droop, and Padmé immediately stopped as soon as she noticed that he was sniffling. Walking over, she gently placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey. I'm sorry if I upset you," she spoke in a soft sympathetic manner.

Looking at them both, Hes did feel guilty over making false assumptions about the little boy and his age. Motioning around to the other side of the two, he gradually rested his right hand on the child's opposite shoulder.

"We're _both_ really sorry if we upset you like this. Okay?" he asserted just as sincerely.

The little boy nodded, and Hes' lips then slowly curled-up into a compassionate smile at him.

Padmé looked at the child curiously. "What's your name?" she asked.

The little boy glanced at her. "Anakin," he answered, as Qui-Gon walked past the three of them.

The Jedi Master glanced to his right at the trio. "Well, I see that you three are getting to know one another. Hey there. I'm Qui-Gon Jinn," he said, striding up to shake Anakin's hand.

The little boy nodded and smiled. "I'm Anakin. Anakin Skywalker," he replied, shaking the Jedi's hand in return.

Padmé and Hes then both introduced themselves to him, before Qui-Gon announced that they were leaving. He glanced over at Binks who was fumbling around with some of the shop items, and making like he was a really bad circus performer.

"Jar Jar. I told you not to touch anything," he said, as Binks tripped and fell over, knocking a bunch of items onto the floor.

As the five departed the shop, Padmé turned to look back at Anakin once more. "It was nice meeting you, Anakin."

"It was nice meeting you too," Anakin called out in reply.

Watto hovered towards him as the visitors rounded the corner and were out of sight. "Outlanders. They think that we don't know anything," he spoke in Huttese.

Anakin shrugged. "They seem pretty nice to me," he sighed.

The Toydarian told him to finish-up with his remaining duties before he could go home, and the child responded with a joyfully loud "YIPPEE!"

On-board Queen Amidala's ship, Obi-Wan had received a transmission from Qui-Gon, who explained their situation to his apprentice regarding the needed hyperdrive generator components, and the lack of funds that were required. He then asked if there was anything of value with which they could use to trade for the parts.

"No, Master. I'm afraid that there isn't anything high enough to work with," his apprentice noted.

Qui-Gon's sigh could be heard over the intercom. "You're sure there's nothing left on-board?"

"A few containers of supplies. The Queen's wardrobe maybe, but, not enough for you to barter with, not in the amount you're talking about," Obi-Wan added.

Hes sighed and rubbed the back of his neck at hearing what was conveyed through the Jedi Master's comlink. Then, like a bolt of lightning, an idea popped into his mind. Looking at Qui-Gon, he signaled that he had something he wanted to say.

"Yes, what is it, Hes?" asked Qui-Gon, after requesting Obi-Wan to wait for a moment.

The Padawan softly cleared his throat. "I was just thinking. What about Podracing?" he asked.

Qui-Gon gave him a questionable look. "I don't fully understand."

Hes nodded to himself, remembering that he hadn't returned from the junkyard until after Anakin mentioned the Podraces. He then proceeded to tell the Jedi Master what little Anakin had said to both him and Padmé about the circumstances surrounding the fact that the child and his mother were acquired by Watto due to him winning a Podracing bet.

Padmé stepped closer. "You're right," she agreed, before turning her head to look at Qui-Gon. "It's worth a look, isn't it?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "You may very well be onto something," he replied. He activated his comlink again. "Obi-Wan? I think we may have just found a possible solution. I'll check back later."

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan responded, and the transmission ended.

As Qui-Gon replaced his comlink, Jar Jar flailed his arms about in a frenzy. "Noah gain! Noah gain! Da beings hereabouts, cawazy! Wesa be wobbed un crunched!" he rambled.

"Not likely. We have nothing of value. That's our problem," Qui-Gon stated, and the group stepped out from the shadows in between two adjoining buildings and into the street.

As the Gungan tromped along, not fully paying attention to where he was going, he all of a suddenly jolted into someone and fell backwards, barely regaining his balance. He was then struck in the face by a Dug, who promptly kicked him to the ground.

"You should watch where you're going, scum," said the Dug angrily in Huttese.

Jar Jar looked up at the creature. "Who, mesa?"

The Dug suddenly grabbed Binks tightly by the throat, ready to pummel him when Anakin quickly walked up to them, and began taunting the Dug. Qui-Gon, hearing the commotion, turned to look directly behind him. The Dug spoke a few incoherent threats at the little boy before striking Jar Jar one last time and then treading off as the Jedi Master strode up to them.

"Hi," said Anakin, smiling.

Qui-Gon nodded and smiled back. "Hey there, Anakin."

As he helped the Gungan to his feet, Anakin explained that Jar Jar had picked a fight with a dangerous Dug named Sebulba. Qui-Gon then told Binks to be more mindful of his surroundings and to keep his concentration focused on where he's going at all times from now on.

"But- But- But mesa doen nutten!" Jar Jar protested, as the group continued to make their way through the crowded streets, with little Anakin now tagging along.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the spaceport, a giant sandstorm slowly began to take shape.

Obi-Wan, who had sauntered out of the ship a little ways to see whether or not if the others were returning, glanced over to his left and saw the makings of a monster-sized dust cloud approaching his position, as a massive squall began blowing.

He looked back towards the ship just as Captain Panaka was strolling up to him. "This storm will slow them down."

The captain nodded in agreement. "Looks pretty bad," he remarked, as his comlink started to beep. Removing it, he activated the device. "Panaka."

"Sir, we're receiving a message from home," a crewman's voice stated over the intercom.

Panaka nodded. "We'll be right there," he replied before switched off his comlink. Then he and Obi-Wan walked back towards the ship.

In the marketplace of the spaceport, Qui-Gon closed his eyes and focused in on Force, meditating on his surroundings. He was abruptly interrupted by little Anakin.

"Here, you'll like these pallies. Here," said Anakin, offering him the fruit.

Qui-Gon opened his eyes and looked down at the little boy. "Thank you," he replied. As he took the fruit and went to place it into one of the pouches on his belt, Anakin immediately gasped at what he saw hanging from it.

' _A lightsaber!_ ' Anakin thought to himself as he turned back to face the old woman sitting in front of him. ' _He must be a Jedi!_ '

The woman, Jira, looked around at the slightest indication that the wind was increasing. "Oh, my bones are aching. Storm's coming up, Ani. You better get home quick," she told the little boy.

Anakin turned to look up at Qui-Gon and Padmé. "Do you have shelter?"

"We'll head back to our ship," said Qui-Gon.

"Where is it?" Anakin asked curiously.

"It's on the outskirts of this spaceport," answered Padmé.

The child gazed up at them in shock. "You can't go out there! You'll never make it! Sandstorms are extremely dangerous!" he exclaimed.

"But we don't have anywhere else to go except back to our ship," Padmé said.

Anakin thought for a moment, before looking up at them again. "Well, there is my place. Come on. It's just down the road a ways from here," he replied, and the group started following him towards his residence.

Some distance along the road, the wind decidedly unleashed it's full fury upon the group and the local region as they fought hard against it with all their might as they trudged through the ferocity of the intense storm, with Padmé, Jar Jar, and Anakin putting their arms up in front of their faces to shield their eyes from the sand. Coming up to a door in front of them, Anakin reached for a control-panel and pressed a button to open it.

As the lot of them stepped through the doorway, Anakin shook his head to get the sand off his face. "Mom! Mom, I'm home!" he called out, as a woman stepped through an adjacent archway and immediately took note of their guests.

Jar Jar looked around the room with delight. "Ahh, dissen cozy."

Qui-Gon and Hes both turned to face Anakin's mother and introduced themselves. "You're son was kind enough to offer us shelter," said Qui-Gon.

As the woman, Shmi Skywalker, introduced herself to the visitors in return, little Anakin took Padmé by the hand and led her to his room. There, he revealed a partially completed protocol droid which he was in the process of building to aid his mother. He also told the handmaiden that he was secretly building a Podracer, and that he wanted to show it off to her once the sandstorm had subsided.

Meanwhile, in the throne room of the Queen's ship, a holographic transmission of Governor Bibble appeared stating that the situation in Theed was rapidly growing more and more dire with each passing moment.

"The death toll is catastrophic. We must bow to their wishes. You must contact me!" insisted the Governor, before the hologram faded.

Obi-Wan then stood up and turned to face Amidala. "It's a trick. Send no reply. Send no transmissions of any kind," he instructed, and then headed for the cockpit.

In the Skywalker residence, Qui-Gon's comlink went off. He politely excused himself from the others and walked into another room to privately speak with Obi-Wan over the intercom, who in turn told his Master of the transmission they had just received from Naboo.

"It sounds like bait to establish a connection trace," pondered Qui-Gon.

"What if is true, and the people _are_ dying?" Obi-Wan asked worriedly.

Qui-Gon sighed. "Either way, we're running out of time," he stated, before switching off his comlink and heading back to join the others.


	8. Ch 7 - Anakin's Nightmare

Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter is sooo long, and that I took weeks to write it. _PLEASE REVIEW!_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Anakin's Nightmare**

Somewhere unknown and concealed within the shadows on Coruscant, the Dark Lord Sidious and his apprentice Darth Maul walked side by side along a narrowly rounded balcony that looked out over the planet, discussing matters concerning the Jedi and Queen Amidala of the Naboo, and that Maul had managed to successfully trace the transmission of Governor Bibble's message to it's intended target.

"Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the trace was correct, I will find them quickly, Master," uttered Maul.

Sidious glanced at his apprentice. "Move against the Jedi first. You will then have no difficulty in taking the Queen to Naboo, where she will sign the treaty," he instructed, as they moved to the railing of the balcony and looked out at the massive stream of traffic moving in all directions across the blackened skies.

"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge," Maul declared with a dark and malice tone.

Sidious smirked menacingly at that. "You have been well-trained, my young apprentice. They will be no match for you. It is too late for them to stop us now. Everything is going as planned."

Meanwhile, on Tatooine, the sandstorm outside had lessened a bit, but was still raging somewhat heavily.

Inside the Skywalker's hovel, as little Anakin, his mother Shmi, and their four guests all sat down at the dining table to eat, Padmé expressed how much she was astonished that slavery still existed in the galaxy after both Anakin and Shmi had explained to everyone who were present that when someone was being sold into slavery, they were immediately fitted with an explosive transmitter device which was surgically implanted somewhere unknown within the body of said slave in order to prevent them from attempting to escape servitude or leave the planet. She began to say something about the Galactic Republic's anti-slavery laws that were in effect, when Shmi interrupted her.

"The Republic doesn't exist out here. We must survive on our own," she noted.

Jar Jar suddenly snatched a piece of fruit with his long tongue while everyone was preoccupied with the conversation. "Xcuse me," Binks said as he gulped it down.

Qui-Gon glared sternly at the Gungan. "Don't do that again," he warned.

Everyone remained quiet for a moment, until Anakin spoke up. "You're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?" he asked, looking at Qui-Gon.

Padmé seemed stunned by this revelation that the little boy knew of the presence of the Jedi being on this world. She wondered if he also knew that Hes was a Jedi as well.

Qui-Gon glanced in little Anakin's direction. "What makes you think that?" he inquired, looking a bit worriedly.

"I saw your laser sword. Only Jedis carry that kind of weapon," remarked Anakin, motioning with his eyes towards where the weapon would be on Qui-Gon's hip.

The Jedi Master leaned back in his seat. "Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took his weapon from him," he uttered with a slight smirk on his face.

Hes eyed him with a very stern expression which basically communicated silently to him that "the jig was up". Qui-Gon frowned when he noticed the look on his face.

"I don't think so. No one can kill a Jedi," declared Anakin with a strong sense of conviction.

Qui-Gon smiled at the child's comment. "I wish that were so," he remarked sincerely.

Anakin looked curiously at him before Hes spoke out. "Unfortunately, Anakin, that isn't true. Jedi are not immortal," stated the Padawan, as the little boy turned to stare at him.

Shmi cleared her throat before she spoke. "So… why have you come here to Tatooine?"

Hes looked over at Qui-Gon, who looked back, and they both nodded to each other. "We didn't come here simply just to come here," Hes answered.

"Our ship was damaged in an attack, and we're stranded here until we can fix it," added Padmé.

Anakin looked around at each of their guests with a puzzled expression. "Who attacked you?" he asked curiously.

"That's not important right now. What matters is that we need to get our ship repaired as soon as possible," Hes stated with a hint of urgency.

Qui-Gon glanced at Hes with worry, sensing something was troubling the young Padawan. "What is it, Hes?"

Hes could feel something very faint and far off, yet very dark in the Force, approaching from across the galaxy. "I don't know," the boy answered, unclear of what it was.

Padmé thought to herself for a long moment before looking at Anakin. "Ani, earlier you mentioned something about Podracing, and-" Shmi suddenly placed a hand over-top of her's and stopped the young handmaiden from saying anything more. "Please, dear. Don't give him any ideas. I don't like it," she voiced firmly.

Anakin looked intently at his mother. "Mom, she was just curious about the Podraces. Besides, I love it when I'm racing," he exclaimed proudly.

Shmi gave her only son a very hard stare, which almost made him cringe. "Which is exactly why I don't want you to do it," she responded with a spec of fury in her voice at his lack of preservation for his own safety, as well as her inexorable heartbreak and possible loss of sanity if Anakin were to ever be gravely injured or worse as a result of that damn Podrace.

Qui-Gon glanced at the little boy. "Your mother's right, Ani." He then looked over at Shmi as he breathed lightly, certain of the grim answer that he would receive from her with what he was about to ask. "Is there anyone allied with the Republic who might be able to help us?"

Shmi sighed with regret. "No, I'm sorry," she expressed sadly in a low tone.

Everyone again stayed quiet for a long time, until little Anakin finally turned to look at his mother. "Mom, you're always telling me that the biggest problem in this universe is that nobody helps each other," he stated, looking very downcast.

Shmi let out a heavy sigh. Deep down, she knew that her son was right, even though she strongly surmised that this was just another feeble excuse for the kid to get his own way.

Hes looked at her and came to the conclusion that maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. "We don't wish to put your son in any mortal danger, ma'am. We'll find a different solution."

Padmé nodded at the exact same notion that he had. _Podracing was not the answer._ "This was only one option. I'm sure there _is_ another way," she said in an assuring manner.

Shmi glanced at her. "No. There is no other way. I _really_ don't like it, but he can help you. He was meant to help you," she replied.

For a brief moment, Hes looked around at each and everyone there, before making a most surprising decision. " _I'll do it,_ " he declared at last.

Everyone present shot a flabbergasted look at the Padawan. "WHAT?!"

"I'll enter the Podracing competition in Anakin's place. I'm a pretty good pilot myself, plus I see this as the only means of keeping him out of harm's way," Hes stated.

Shmi placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, dear. This has to be done by Ani. It's the only way you'll get those repair parts that you need."

Anakin glanced at Qui-Gon, who momentarily glanced back at him in turn before staring off blankly at nothing while deep in thought.

Hes cleared his throat and looked over at little Anakin. "Ani, a bit earlier you said that you were trying to locate the transmitter device that's inside of you. I could help you find it later on this evening if you want me to," he offered, before glancing at Shmi. "That is, if it's alright with you, of course."

"How exactly are you going to help find the transmitter inside of him?" Shmi asked, confused.

The Padawan sighed and started explaining to both her and Anakin that he was also a Jedi much like Qui-Gon, but that he was not a Knight yet, and that he could use the Force to detect any traces of a foreign material within the boy's body. He also told them of his superpowers that he exhibited outside of the Force, and that he could in fact use them to safely remove the transmitter, with both of their consents, _if_ that is what little Anakin was hoping to accomplish.

Shmi looked at her son, who in turn looked back with a confident expression and nodded to her his decision. She glanced at Hes, and nodded her reply after a long moment of contemplation.

A short while later, after the sandstorm had dissipated, Qui-Gon, Padmé, Artoo, and Hes all went to Watto's junk-shop to speak with him about a hopeful admission into the Podraces.

As they approached the entrance, Padmé spoke up and Qui-Gon turned to face her. "Do we really have to do this? I mean, putting a little boy's life in dire jeopardy solely for our benefit in getting us the replacement parts we need to get our ship working again… it isn't right. I don't like it," she said grimly.

Qui-Gon sighed and nodded in agreement. "Neither do I. But what other choice is there?"

"But the Queen will not approve of this plan," Padmé stated in a " _matter of fact_ " way.

"The Queen doesn't need to know," replied Qui-Gon, shaking his head.

Padmé frowned at the Jedi Master's words. "Well, I don't approve," she expressed with a poutful glare.

Anakin and Watto motioned towards the Jedi Master as he stepped through the archway into the junk store. "The boy tells me that you want to sponsor him in the race tomorrow. But how are you going about this?" asked the Toydarian. "Not with Republic credits, I think, huh?" he added with a chuckle.

Qui-Gon took his Imagecaster from his belt and activated it, and a hologram of the Naboo royal yacht instantly appeared. "My ship will be the entry fee," he answered.

Anakin's mouth went ajar, but Watto was in complete awe at the mere sight of the vessel. "Oh, not bad! Not bad, huh? A Nubian, huh?"

"It's in good order, except for the parts that I need," said Qui-Gon, as he switched off the device and placed it onto his belt.

"So, you supply the entry fee, and I supply the boy. We split the winnings, um, 50-50, I think, huh?" Watto stated, as Qui-Gon began slowly pacing back and forth.

"If it's going to be 50-50, I suggest you front the cash for the entry. If we win, you keep all the winnings, minus the cost of the parts I need. And if we lose, you keep my ship," Qui-Gon said, as he stopped pacing and turned back to face Watto. "Either way, you win."

The Toydarian pondered this suggestion for a long moment as Qui-Gon and Anakin eyed each other, both of them wondering whether or not if he would go for it. "Deal!" Watto then exclaimed, and their palms slapped together in agreement.

Qui-Gon and Anakin smiled at each other, and as the Jedi Master turned to leave the junk-shop, he briefly winked at Anakin causing the little boy to giggle cutely.

Watto turned to look at Anakin. "Your friend is a foolish one," he proclaimed in Huttese. Little Anakin folded his arms across his chest and simply pouted with an air of annoyance at the Toydarian.

On-board the Naboo royal yacht, Obi-Wan spoke privately with Qui-Gon through his comlink after it started to beep, signaling him of an incoming transmission. The Jedi Master explained the current state of affairs to his apprentice, and also conveyed to him the plan to acquire the parts they needed to repair the damaged hyper drive via using the ship as an entry fee in order to sponsor Anakin in the upcoming Podrace the following day.

Obi-Wan however was a little apprehensive about all of this. "What if this plan fails, Master? We could be stuck here for a very long time," he stated.

At the hovel, Qui-Gon, who stood outside watching Anakin and the others prepping the little boy's pod for the race, noted Obi-Wan's concern. "Well, it's too dangerous to call for help, and a ship without a power supply isn't going to get us anywhere," he responded.

"But the longer we stay here, the more lives are lost on Naboo. There has to be some way to contact the Senate or the Council to send someone to help," Obi-Wan voiced.

Qui-Gon regrettably shook his head. "No, that's far too risky. Any off-world transmissions we send could be tracked, and you know what that will mean," he asserted.

Obi-Wan sighed deeply at this. "Understood, Master." He then thought to himself for moment. "By the way, is that Gungan staying out of trouble? Has he been causing any problems of late?"

"Uh, a few mishaps here and there, but nothing too serious," Qui-Gon remarked. "Don't worry, Obi-Wan, we'll be getting out of here in due time. Also… there's something about this boy."

Just as the Jedi Master ceased the communication and replaced the comlink back onto his belt, Shmi came out of the hovel and smiled fondly at him. Qui-Gon in turn smiled back at her in a very similar manner.

"You should be very proud of your son. He gives without any thought of reward," the Jedi Master stated as he turned to watch Anakin and the others.

Shmi nodded. "Well, he knows nothing of greed, which I am especially glad about. 'Though, he has been known to exhibit a slit temper at times," she confessed.

Qui-Gon looked at her, a tad surprised. "Oh. He's given to throwing tantrums once in awhile?" he asked.

Shmi chuckled inwardly at his question and shook her head. "No. When he was smaller, though, yes. But only very mildly at that. He has, um…"

"He has special powers," said Qui-Gon, as he turned to look at her.

Shmi glanced back up at him. "Yes," she agreed.

"He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It's a Jedi trait," the Jedi Master explained.

The two of them looked out at where Anakin, his protocol droid C-3PO, R2-D2, Padmé, Hes, and Jar Jar Binks were busy finishing with the final stages of constructing the pod.

"He deserves better than a slave's life," Shmi said at last.

Qui-Gon nodded in agreement. "Had he been born within the Republic, we would have identified him early on," he said.

Shmi looked at him in bewilderment as the Jedi Master turned to her. "The Force is unusually strong with him. That much is clear. Who was his father?"

"There was no father," she said, after she took a moment to determine how she was going to field that question.

Qui-Gon looked out into the distance with a bit of confusion and worry on his face as she told him of how she mysteriously came to be pregnant with Anakin, gave birth, and then raised him all on her own. And yet, she couldn't comprehend or explain what had caused such a thing to happen in the first place.

Just as Anakin and the others were finishing up with assembling the pod, a group of giggling children came scampering other to see what was going on. Qui-Gon strode down to the lower floor and motioned towards the lot, who were chatting with one another over the condition of the pod and what not, to check on the group's progress.

One of the little boys signaled to the other children. "Come on. Let's go and play ball," he uttered. As the group turned to leave, the little boy looked back at Ani once more. "Keep racing, Ani. You're gonna be bug squash," he taunted. Anakin closed his eyes and let his head fall, looking a bit sad. Seeing this, his best friend, Kitster Banai, came over and embraced him tightly.

As the other children scampered off, Hes immediately walked towards the duo from behind and lightly patted little Anakin on the back. The two small children turned and looked up at him, and Hes smiled. "Hey. Don't pay any attention to them, Ani," he remarked softly, as Padmé came over to them. "Yeah. They're just being jerks," she added. Anakin smiled brightly at the three and hugged them all as vigorously as he possibly could.

Qui-Gon smiled at the sight of them. He then strode up to the trio as they separated. "I think it's time to see if this works. Don't you, Anakin?" he suggested, before tossing a power change towards Anakin, who reached out and caught it with a small right hand. The Jedi Master smirked to himself at observing the child's brisk reflex action.

Anakin merely nodded with a big smile on his face. As he climbed into the pod, Qui-Gon took Kitster by the hand and they, along with everyone else, moved to a safe distance away in order to observe the final conclusion to their work on the pod.

After installing the power charge, Anakin flipped the ignition switch upward on the control-console, and the twin-engines of the pod started to hum and then come alive as the turbines began rotating faster and faster under at last the rear jets flamed on.

Padmé and Hes both smiled at each other, and Qui-Gon breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Kitster let out a excitedly cheerful "Yippee!"

"It's working! It's working!" shouted Anakin over the noise of the pod's loud engines while tightly gritting his teeth, as the warm air from the rear jets blasted his face, contorting his features and causing his sandy-blond hair to flail behind him.

Shmi on the other hand continued to watch her son from a distance with a deeply fearful and worried expression on her face, concerning what her child was about to get himself into the following day. A reckless act of daring which could very well cost him his life, and she now wished wholeheartedly that she hadn't dismissed Hes' offer to take her son's place when the opportunity had presented itself. But now, it was too late.

That evening after everyone ate dinner, Hes went with Anakin and Shmi into the main living area, and Hes knelt down in front of Ani as the little boy faced him so that their heights closely matched. Shmi sat down on her knees and wrapped her arms both gingerly and firmly around her small son.

"Will it hurt?" Anakin asked, a bit fearful.

Hes smiled and shook his head. "No. You may feel your body go numb for a little bit, but I promise there won't be any pain," the Padawan assured him.

Anakin nodded, and Hes softly placed his palm and outstretched fingers on his chest, using the Force to slowly feel each of his internal organs for any type of abnormalities that might be present inside his body. Soon, he found something foreign and metallic that had been grafted to the child's heart. Hes examined it more closely, before grinning inwardly to himself. ' _Gotta,_ ' he thought triumphantly after successfully locating the device.

"Found it," Hes declared, causing Shmi to exhale a huge sigh of relief.

A moment later, Anakin felt very strange, as his body began to tingle all over. "Mom. Something weird. I can't feel anything," he remarked to his mother.

Hes look up at them. "Oh. Sorry, that was me. I guess I should have warned you before I did that," he voiced. Soon, Hes started to grit his teeth in pain, as an invisible energy began to flow through his arm, and into his chest.

Shmi and Anakin both noticed this instantly. "Hes! Are you-" They turned their heads and shouted frantically towards the kitchen area, where Padmé and Jar Jar were busy cleaning and straightening things up. Qui-Gon suddenly bolted into the room. "What is it? What happened?" he asked in confusion.

Hes looked over at him, silently telling him not to intervene. His pained moans and groans slowly grew louder every few seconds. And soon, the noises of agony stopped all together as the Padawan doubled over. Qui-Gon caught him, and gently pushed a stool into the wall behind him that he sat the boy down on so that Hes sat up straight. The Padawan took a brief moment to regain himself.

"What was that?" asked Anakin, looking worried. "What did you do?"

Hes looked at the two, mother and son, as they stared at him in total shock. "It's okay. It's over, Ani. You're free from that restraint now," he stated.

Shmi shook head, still rather confused. "I don't understand. What happened just now?"

"I used my powers to dismantle the transmitter on a molecular-level, and then reassembled the device inside of me," the Padawan explained. "And believe me, it was harder than I thought."

Everyone immediately gasped in horror at what they had just heard. " _WHAT!?_ "

Qui-Gon leaned forward towards him. "Hes, why would you do something like that?" he asked with a troubled look.

Hes rolled his eyes and huffed softly. "Relax. I already have a plan," the Padawan replied.

The Jedi Master sighed and shook his head at the Padawan's rash decision to plant the transmitter inside of himself. "I hope you know what you're doing," he voiced firmly.

As darkness fell over the settlement, Qui-Gon sat down outside on a ledge with Anakin to take a sample of the child's blood to test it for the presence of midi-chlorians, while Anakin gazed curiously up at the trillions of shining stars that encrusted the night sky.

"There's so many. Do they all have a system of planets?" asked Anakin.

Qui-Gon glanced at him. "Most of them," he stated.

"Has anyone been to 'em all?" the little boy questioned inquisitively.

The Jedi Master looked skyward and chuckled at the mere thought. "Not likely."

Anakin smiled at this. "I wanna be the first one to see 'em all," he declared proudly.

"Maybe someday you will. Who knows?" surmised Qui-Gon.

Suddenly, Anakin heard the stern voice of his mother calling to him from inside the hovel, telling him that it was high-time for him to go to sleep. He winced in slight pain as Qui-Gon finished patching up the cut on his arm.

"There we are. Good as new," said Qui-Gon. He then prodded little Anakin towards the doorway of the hovel. "Sleep well, Ani."

Qui-Gon activated his comlink to contact Obi-Wan in the Naboo yacht concerning the blood sample that he took. Obi-Wan started prepping the instrument panel that he was sitting at to scan for midi-chlorians, and after a brief moment, he signaled to his Master to send him the sample for analyse. After Qui-Gon slid the chip into his comlink, the display on Obi-Wan's instrument panel revealed something shocking. Obi-Wan could hardly believe what he was seeing.

"The reading, it's way off the chart. There's a high concentration of well over twenty-thousand per cell. Even Master Yoda doesn't have a midi-chlorian count that high," he stated in surprise.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "No Jedi alive has. And Hes' count is just under that of Yoda's," he replied.

"What exactly does that mean?" asked Obi-Wan with a hint of great concern.

Qui-Gon pondered the question for a moment. "I'm not sure," he finally answered. As he turned to look at Shmi, who had been watching and listened to him the whole time, she smiled and tilted her head back, gesturing for him to come indoors. After bidding goodnight to his apprentice, Qui-Gon ended the transmission, replaced the comlink back onto his belt, and followed Shmi inside the hovel… all while smiling to himself.

A few hours later, Hes bolted upright from his sleep after receiving a vision similar to the one he'd had on Naboo. He got up from where he was sleeping, and was about to step outside into the night air for a minute, when suddenly a shrill cry split the dead silence.

"Aaaaahhh! Mom! Mom!" little Anakin shrieked.

Hes immediately bolted for the child's room, pausing only for a mere instant when he faintly heard strange noises and sounds coming from the clear direction of Shmi Skywalker's room. Turning to see precisely what those noises were, he looked away so fast he could've broken his neck.

"Mom! Mommy! MOMMY!" the little boy screamed again as he began to cry.

As Hes rounded the corner into his room, Padmé was already there, desperately trying to stir Anakin from his horrific sleep. Qui-Gon and Shmi came running up behind him a few moments later.

"Anakin. Anakin!" shouted the handmaiden. Anakin only cried louder. "ANAKIN! WAKE UP!" Padmé squealed.

The little boy's eyes snapped wide-open, his sight urgently trying to focus in the dim light. "Mommy? Mommy!? Where are you!?" he pleaded desperately with pure fright.

Shmi switched a light on in the room, and rushed over to her son's side on his bed, with Padmé flanking him on the opposite side. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm here," she soothed.

The frightened little boy glanced up at his mother with huge tear-filled eyes, and Shmi smiled down at her precious baby boy. Anakin momentarily looked over at Padmé, who smiled ever so kindly at her terrified friend. That's when the unexpected happened. Collapsing into his mother's arms, little Anakin just let loose, bawling his eyes out into her chest as he gripped her clothing firmly with his tiny shaking fists.

As the two females tried their best to comfort the distraught nine-year-old, Hes steadily walked over and gently placed his hand on the child's head. As he was about to use a Jedi meditation technique to help calm the little boy down, he very suddenly found himself engulfed by pure darkness. Soon, he could distinctly hear the familiar voice of Master Yoda echoing loud through the black void of nothingness. "Remember, _remember_. Always in motion, _in motion_ … is the future, _is the future_. And many possible futures, _possible futures_ … there are, _there are_."

All of a sudden, Hes found himself standing in the middle of what appeared to be a dimly red lit carbon-freezing chamber as the darkness slithered away in all directions. Looking around, he could hear a very deep and very eerie noise, almost like a slow mechanical breathing sound.

' _This must be what Anakin was dreaming about, and why he was so scared,_ ' Hes thought to himself.

" _The Force is with you, young Skywalker,_ " a booming voice suddenly spoke out.

Hes immediately turned around when he heard the deep menacing voice from behind him, and looked up. Standing at the top of a flight of stairs, stood the immensely tall, motionlessly ominous silhouette of a monstrous-looking figure clad in midnight black armor.

" _But you are not a Jedi yet,_ " the booming voice came again.

The Padawan stared intensely at the monstrous being, trying to understand what this all meant. "Hello?" he asked the dark figure, but the terrifying being just stood there, watching him. As he was about to turn away, the figure suddenly spoke, it's deep voice cold and emotionless. "Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save… _her_."

"What?" asked Hes, rather confused. Suddenly, he was yanked forward off his feet, and flew up towards the menacing figure, who clamped it's gloved fist tightly around the Padawan's throat. He found himself unable to breathe, as the monster effortlessly lifted him further upwards.

"There is no escape! Don't make me destroy you!" the figure uttered, it's mechanical voice seething with rage that bordered on loathing. Then, quite unexpectedly, the frightful monster flung it's arm out and threw Hes backwards and he landing with a thud.

As Hes slowly struggled to stand, he instantly became aware that he was no longer in the carbonite chamber, but somewhere else entirely. Suddenly, he heard a menacingly disturbing cackle coming from just behind him. And as he spun on his heels, Hes came face to face with a horribly disfigured and pale-skinned old man with nightmarish-looking yellow eyes.

Staring intensely at the foul-looking creature, Hes felt an intense darkness emanating from him. Drawing closer, Hes sensed that his presence was striking similar to that of the dark presence that he had felt back on-board the Trade Federation ship much earlier. As the deformed man continued to cackle ominously, Hes very suddenly, to his horror, came to the realization that the two beings were in fact one in the same.

" ** _YOU!_** "

* * *

Author's Note: The crossover portion of this story is coming up soon. It should hopefully be just after the next chapter is up. I'm getting there. Slowly, but surely, I am getting there.


	9. Ch 8 - Slave Liberation

Author's Note: This chapter is FINALLY up after almost a month. _PLEASE REVIEW!_

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **Slave Liberation**

The grotesque-looking figure's cackling slowly ceased as Hes continued to stare wide-eyed at the menacing form in front of him. All of a sudden, Hes was launched backwards off the landing just beyond a flight of stairs that were directly behind him as a barrage of Force Lightning emanated from the figure's gangly outstretched fingertips, assaulting the Padawan violently as he gritted his teeth together in sheer agonizing torture.

A moment later, Hes snapped back to reality out of his vision, and found that Qui-Gon, Padmé, and Shmi were all staring directly at him with utter confusion.

"What? What just happened?" he asked, somewhat bewildered himself.

Everyone glanced at one another. Then Qui-Gon turned back to look at the Padawan once more. "You tell us. You started acting rather oddly and clenching your teeth like you were in severe pain."

Hes shook his head, slightly confused about what he had just seen. He went on to explain what he'd witnessed as best he could. "Well, that's all I remember, really," he stated after finishing.

All three occupants in the room looked at one another, each and every one even more confused than before. Hes glanced at all of them momentarily.

"By the way, how's Anakin doing? Is he alright?" he asked, a bit concerned.

Shmi motioned off to her left a little bit and Hes stared down with minor dismay at the sight in front of him. Little Anakin was curled up just underneath the covers of his bed with the thumb of his lightly clenched fist stuck inside his mouth.

Padmé looked up at Hes a bit worriedly. "We tried coaxing him to stop, but he just won't budge."

Starrgazer sighed and walked back towards his room, before turning to a set of steps that lead outside into the cool night air, with Qui-Gon following just behind him.

Shmi bent down and kissed her son's forehead, causing little Anakin to moan pitifully. "Shhh. Shhh. It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay," she cooed ever so gently in a hushed tone of voice.

The handmaiden sat down beside Anakin on his bed and looked up at her. "I'll stay here with him tonight, if that's okay."

Shmi smiled and nodded her approval. She was happy that her son had a very good, kind and caring friend in Padmé. The two of them suddenly heard something very faint and distant, yet rather sharp in tone as they turned their heads to peer in the direction of where the noise was coming from. It sounded as though Hes and Qui-Gon were having a discussion just outside.

As Padmé laid down on the bed next to Anakin and wrapped her arm protectively around him, the little boy snuggled in closer towards her and sighed, indicating to her that he felt safe.

Shmi stood up and gradually walked towards the direction of the sounds, stopping only a couple yards away, just enough to be within earshot. Hes and Qui-Gon were indeed talking, but this was no mere discussion. More like a muffled argument.

"…how could you be so damn stupid!?" Hes spat bitterly at the Jedi Master.

"What I do is no concern of yours, Hes," expressed Qui-Gon in a somewhat harsh tone of voice.

Starrgazer eyed him with such an intense glare that it could make even the most strict of Jedi Masters cringe.

"Hey! Hey, no! No! We've only been here for less than a full day! The only reason we're here right now is because they offered us shelter for the night, and then the next thing I know, you're almost immediately getting intimate with the mother of a little boy… _whom you suspect of being the Chosen One?!_ " the Padawan mildly roared.

Qui-Gon turned to directly face him. "That little boy _IS_ the Chosen One, Hes. I can sense it. He will bring Balance to the Force one day. And as for his mother, well…"

Hes glanced suspiciously at the Jedi Master in complete shock, shaking his head back and forth in disgust as he realized what Qui-Gon was practically saying. "No. Oh, no, no, no, no, NO!" The tween slammed his fists downwards in absolute frustration as he momentarily turned away. " _DAMNIT, QUI-GON!_ "

Qui-Gon sighed deeply to himself and shook his head. "I don't expect you to understand, even though you may very well be old enough."

The Padawan spun around to directly face him again as he pointed a very accusing finger at the Jedi Master.

"You know, you had just better hope and pray that the Council doesn't find out about this. I mean, I am sure as hell not going to say _anything_ on the matter of the subject. But if they do indeed end up finding out what you did, then don't you even _DARE_ think for _one_ _second_ that I'm going to defend your sorry ass!" Hes chided, almost in a near threatening tone of voice before angrily stomping off down the steps, heading back towards his room as he passed by Shmi, hardly noticing her standing near the archway.

As the first sign of the coming dawn slowly crept over the desolate landscape, a dark-grey star courier swooped down towards the planet and headed for the location of where the receiving end of the transmission had originated from. The ship glided across the dusty terrain, coming to rest softly near a large cliff-face just beyond the outskirts of the three spaceports of which it overlooked.

Darth Maul exited the craft, and with a pair of electrobinoculars in hand, surveyed the settlements quite briefly. He then pressed a few switches on his left-handed wrist comm, and a moment later a bunch spherical-shaped black probe droids floated out of the ship's cargo hold and drifted down towards the spaceports, two per settlement.

In the bright and early morning sunlight, way long after nearly everyone awoke and ate breakfast, little Anakin and the others went to the racetrack just as the crowds started to gather in droves to watch the upcoming Podrace. Watto had secured his shop, and then promptly left for the main hangar of the arena, knowing that Skywalker would soon be there. He immediately glided over to and greeted Qui-Gon, who was casually observing the many various racers that were scattered throughout, as soon as the Toydarian had arrived.

"I wanna see your spaceship the moment to race is over," Watto remarked with a sneer.

Qui-Gon glanced in the Toydarian's direction. "Patience, my blue friend. You'll have your winnings before the suns set. And we'll be far away from here," he replied.

"Not if your ship belongs to me, I think, huh?" Watto stated with a slight chuckle as he motioned in front of the Jedi Master, blocking his path. "I warn you, no funny business."

"What, you don't think Anakin can win?" Qui-Gon asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Don't get me wrong, no. I have great faith in the boy. He's a credit to your race," the Toydarian solemnly stated, before turning and gesturing towards a certain familiar Dug who sat just a few yards away from them with his two Twi'lek slave girls. "But, uh, Sebulba there is going to win, I think."

"Why do you think that?" asked Qui-Gon curiously.

The Toydarian turned to face him again. "He always wins!" Watto answered with a chuckle, before circling the Jedi Master and continuing to watch the Dug. "I'm betting heavily on Sebulba."

Qui-Gon folded his arms across his chest. "I'll take that bet," he challenged.

Watto's head promptly snapped to his left and looked directly at the Jedi Master upon hearing this. "You what?"

"I'll wager my new racing pod against, say, the boy and his mother," declared Qui-Gon.

"No pod is worth two slaves, not by a long shot," Watto stated sharply, waving him off.

"The boy, then," Qui-Gon replied.

The junk-dealer pondered the bet for a brief moment before drawing a conclusion. "We'll let fate decide, huh?" he suggested as he took a dice-like item from his belt pouch. "I just so happen to have a chance cube here." He hovered back and forth slowly as he chose which color would represent Anakin and Shmi. "Blue, it's the boy. Red, uh… his mother."

Qui-Gon nodded in agreement, and as Watto threw the cube and it tumbled along the ground, Qui-Gon moved his hand across him, using the Force to cause the cube to land on the color blue. Watto, seeing that he just lost the roll, grumbled as he clenched his fist in frustration.

"You won this small toss, outlander, but you won't win the race! So it makes no difference!" he angrily shouted at the Jedi Master as he turned and flouted off to where Anakin, Padmé, Kitster, and Shmi were all entering the main hangar, riding atop a couple of Eopies who were towing the pod behind them.

"Better stop your friend's betting, or I might just end up owning him too," Watto said to Anakin in Huttese with a chuckle as he floated passed the group.

Anakin slowly looked behind him in confusion as the Toydarian moved on. "What'd he mean by that?" he asked as Qui-Gon walked up to them.

"I'll tell you later," answered Qui-Gon. He motioned over to Shmi and politely helped her down off the Eopie that she rode atop of with Kitster. "Good morning." As the two embraced each other in a hug, the Jedi Master noticed that little Anakin was glaring at him quite suspiciously. It was almost the same look that Hes had given him the night before, during their argument.

As the rest of them dismounted off the creatures, Artoo was telling Threepio all about traveling through the reaches of outer-space.

"Oh, my. This space travel sounds rather perilous," Threepio responded, and Artoo let out a few beeps. "I can assure you, they will never get me onto one of those dreadful starships," he firmly insisted to the little blue astromech droid.

"This is so wizard, Ani. I'm sure you'll do it this time," Kitster remarked to his friend.

Padmé looked at them. "Do what?" she asked.

Kitster and Anakin looked up at her. "Finish the race, of course," the little boy answered somewhat sarcastically.

The handmaiden stared down at Anakin with her mouth partially open. "You've never won a race?"

Anakin shook his head, causing Padmé to look even more stunned. "Not even finished?" she asked in a surprised tone. Anakin put his arm around his friend. "I will win it this time," he answered.

Qui-Gon walked up behind the two little boys and gently placed his hands atop Anakin's shoulders. "Of course you will," he remarked confidently.

Padmé stared at little Anakin with a clear sign of worry on her face. As she turned to check on the pod, she momentarily looked back at the others. "Have you seen Hes or Jar Jar around anywhere? I only briefly saw them maybe once or twice at all this morning," she commented.

The Jedi Master shook his head in reply, but Anakin let a small yet barely visible smile curl across his lips. "Oh, they're around somewhere… I'm sure," he remarked.

Meanwhile, the two probe droids that Maul sent to the settlement where the Jedi were currently located, continued to search for any and all traces of them or their companions as they zigzagged in and out of the crowded streets and searched both inside and in between structures from two opposite ends of the spaceport.

At the racetrack, Anakin and Kitster, along with the two Eopies, towed the pod out of the arena hangar and moved it into position at the starting-line as the two arena announcers, Fode and Beed, addressed the gigantic crowds of spectators who were all anxiously waiting for the race to commence.

Shmi came over and knelt down in front of her son, so that they were at eye-level with each other. The two paused for a brief moment, before Anakin nodded and spoke up.

"Don't worry. I've got this. They won't suspect a thing," he remarked, referring to the crowds.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Shmi, feeling just a little bit concerned for his safety.

Anakin nodded solemnly. "It's the least I can do to keep _him_ safe," he replied kindly.

Shmi smiled and gently pulled him into a light hug as she whispered a most grateful "thank you" into his ear. As she slowly pulled away, releasing him, the two momentarily looked at each other one more time. "Be safe," she expressed quite attentively. "I'd feel really awful if your friends were to lose you."

Anakin smiled. "I'll be okay. If anything, it will be that Dug who's gonna have his own ass handed to him," he stated.

** _WACK!_ **

"Watch your mouth, young man!" Shmi scolded a tad firmly as she pointed her finger at him after her hand lightly came across his face.

The little boy looked down for a split-second and then nodded his head. "Sorry," he apologized softly.

Shmi nodded and then stood up, walking past Anakin to join Padmé on an observation platform.

While Anakin was hooking the engine cables to the pod, Sebulba stealthily crept over to one of the engines and dislocated a component on it so as to cause Skywalker to crash. "Uh-oh," he quietly uttered with an ominous snicker, before walking over to the little boy.

"You won't be walking away from this one, slave slum," the Dug threatened in Huttese.

"Don't count on it, slime ball," Anakin responded with a glare in the same dialect.

Sebulba grinned maliciously at the child. "You're bantha fodder!" he declared with a fiendish chuckle, before turning and walking back to his own pod.

Anakin momentarily looked around before walking over to the damaged engine part to inspect it. As he briskly, yet carefully looked over the displaced component, he raised up his hand towards it and used the Force to fully repair the unit.

"You all set, Ani?" Qui-Gon asked, as he came around the other side of the pod, but suddenly stopped when he saw what was happening in front of him.

The sound of the Jedi Master's voice made Anakin slightly jump, and he turned to face Qui-Gon after completely repairing the engine block, who in turn stood where he was with his mouth half-open for a split-second before he nodded to himself as he understood what was really going on.

Anakin sighed heavily and let his eyes droop, knowing that he'd just been found-out. He slowly walked over to the pod and hopped inside, starring blankly at nothing and motionless for a long moment before opening his mouth to reply.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier," he confessed a bit glumly. "But we were all rather busy this morning, and _he_ refused to wake up in time."

Qui-Gon nodded understandably before handing the racing helmet to the little boy. "May the Force be with you," he simply said.

Anakin nodded as he took the helmet, sitting in deep thought for a minute before turning to look at the Jedi Master again. "We can talk about this later," the child remarked.

Qui-Gon then motioned towards the observation platform to join both Padmé and Shmi to watch the race. Padmé turned to face the Jedi Master with a hard look on her face.

"You Jedi are far too reckless," she voiced strongly. "The Queen is not-"

"The Queen trusts my judgment, young handmaiden," Qui-Gon interrupted her before leaning in close to her face and giving Padmé a look as though he were talking to a child. "You should too."

Padmé's fist balled in outrage at the way the Jedi Master was speaking to her. "You assume too much," she replied, keeping her voice level.

The announcers soon signaled the arrival of the mighty Jabba the Hutt, and the crowds thunderously cheered in unison at his presence. "Let the race… begin!" he proclaimed loudly.

As the observation platform rose off the ground, the announcers instructed all of the racers to start their pod's engines. Anakin adjusted his goggles, flipped the ignition switch upward, and revved up the pod's twin engines using the steering controls, as did all the other racers. Then Jabba banged a gong, which signaled the first of three laps to commence. Most of the racers took off like lightning down the stretch of racetrack, including Anakin, but one of the racers was apparently having engine trouble.

Soon after making his way into first place, Sebulba began knocking any other racers off course who got near him, thereby causing their pods to crash into cliff-sides, ram headfirst into obstacles, or send them flying off the service ramps that were situated along the track. He also incinerated the turbines of the other racers' engines using flamethrower vents on his own pod, or simply tossed objects directly into the other racers' pod engines to make them explode.

"Where is Master Anakin?" asked Threepio, and Artoo beeped in response as the remaining racers approached the field line to begin the second lap of the race.

Padmé looked over as Skywalker's pod was coming up fast. "Look. Here he comes," she told Qui-Gon and Shmi. They both looked over as the little boy's pod flew past them in a blur.

"It looks like Skywalker's moving up in the field," one of the announcers stated as the second lap in the race commenced.

"Yay! Yippee!" exclaimed Kitster with much glee, who positively bounded up and down in sheer excitement at seeing his friend fly by.

"He has to complete two more circuits? Oh, dear," Threepio replied in worry after Artoo told him something in a few small beeps.

As Anakin accelerated to full engine throttle, pushing the pod's turbines to their absolute maximum rotation speeds, he used the Force to propel the vehicle ever forwards, zigzagging in and out of tight corners, dodging obstacles left and right, and zooming past the remaining Podracers with ease. Finally, he managed to catch up to the racer that was just behind Sebulba's pod. All of a sudden, the Dug threw something at the pod directly behind him and it landed in one of the turbines, causing it to malfunction and sending the pod crashing onto the desert floor. Anakin managed to dodge the flying debris, until a stray object knocked one of his engine cables loose, and the little boy and his pod abruptly went for a horizontal corkscrew.

"Skywalker's spinning out of control!" one of the announcers exclaimed.

Shmi closed her eyes and looked away from the viewscreen that she was holding, unable to watch what was happening.

As little Anakin continued to spiral out of control, he used the Force to level out and keep the pod staying upright, before grabbing a large magnetic instrument and using it along with the Force to pull the flailing cable back into position and locking firmly into place on the pod. The pod's energy binders instantly flickered to life, and the display panel showed both of the twin engines to be fully operational once more. Skywalker then pushed the thruster controls forward and took off like a rocket down the final leg of the second lap of the race. As he came closer towards the lead racers once again, one of them tried to bump him off but Anakin did a sidewinder with his pod and dodged an oncoming obstacle, thereby causing the opponent's vehicle to violently crash into it instead.

"Oh, I don't care what universe you're from. That's gotta hurt!" the announcer exclaimed as the other nodded in agreement.

Anakin sped insanely fast down the track towards the field line as he caught up to Sebulba, and the announcer proudly proclaimed that it had now come down to the third and final lap of the race, with only Skywalker and the Dug being the two contestants remaining. As the two racers zigzagged through the maze that was the racetrack, Sebulba tried continuously to bump or otherwise ram Anakin off the track, yet the child kept up with him, never once giving the Dug an inch to come out ahead. Just as they reached the final hurdle of the race, the Dug tried once again to knock the little boy's pod off course. But then, their pods somehow got linked together, causing both vehicles to be evenly matched as the finish line was vastly approaching them.

"That little human being is out of his mind!" one announcer shouted in complete surprise. "They're side by side!"

Shmi shook her head, not wanting believe what she was seeing unfold before her eyes.

Kitster cringed at the sight of what he was witnessing on a nearby spectator's viewscreen.

As Anakin and Sebulba struggled against each other, the Dug pressed a button on his pod's control panel, but Anakin immediately sensed what he was planning and used the Force to keep the vent panels closed shut right before they opened. The weapon immediately backfired, causing the turbine to explode and sending Sebulba's pod skyrocketing. Unfortunately, Anakin's pod engine also started to catch on fire, and the energy binders that connected both of them together flickered out. Skywalker could see the finish line just up ahead of him and he used the Force to propel the damaged vehicle forward, until finally the pod's twin engines made contact with the ground and skidded across the finish line as pieces from both of the engines were torn apart and littered the desert ground for several yards.

When the pod finally came to a halt, the majority of the crowds excitedly cheered and chanted in unison at the outcome. The race was over, and Anakin Skywalker had won.

Afterwards, the group all gathered together in the main hangar of the arena, and as Anakin was about to embrace Padmé in a hug, he suddenly stopped short.

The handmaiden looked at him, rather puzzled. "Ani, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked a bit concerned.

Anakin slowly lowered his head as he smiled rather strangely and his eyes suddenly transformed into glowing orbs of pure white light as Padmé starred at him in complete shock. Soon, the child's physical appearance started to become that of Starrgazer's, as slowly his face, body, hair, and clothes began to change in color, shape and size.

Padmé, now partially realizing what had truly been happening this whole time, turned away and balled up her fist, feeling both hurt and angry at the thought of having been tricked.

Hes stood fully normal again, and as he looked at Padmé who had her back to him, he huffed with regret at what he did. "Look. I'm sorry about this, alright?" he uttered sincerely.

Padmé simply stood there like a statue, and didn't move a single muscle.

The Padawan shook his head as he sighed heavily. "You're not gonna at the very least congratulate me on winning the race for _him_?"

** _ **POW!**_ **

Starrgazer suddenly flew backwards off his feet as the handmaiden whirled around on her heels, swinging her arm out with a tightly clenched fist as it came into direct contact with his face.

"Ah! Okay. Didn't see that coming," Hes groaned as he got to his feet a moment later.

Watto meanwhile handed out the last of his money to a spectator of the race whom he'd lost to as Qui-Gon approached him. He accusingly pointed his finger at the Jedi Master as the Toydarian slowly turned around to face him.

"You. You swindled me! You knew the boy was going to win. Somehow you knew it. I lost everything," he grumbled.

"Whenever you gamble, my friend, eventually you'll lose," Qui-Gon stated in reply.

Padmé harshly pointed her finger quite angrily at Hes. "How dare you! How dare you do this to me!"

"I'm sorry! Look, when it was getting to be time for us to leave, I went in to check on him, and he was still sound asleep. So I told Shmi about it and she then agreed to allow for me to do this in her son's place. And before we left, she hurried over to a neighbor of her's to ask if they could watch Anakin while we were gone. I thought about telling you at first, so that you could stay behind to watch him yourself, but you said that you had wanted to see the race, as well as ride over here with _him_ ," Hes explained somewhat hastily.

Padmé shook her head in confusion. "But I distinctly saw Anakin as he was coming outside, and-"

"That was _me_ you saw," Hes interrupted her momentarily.

The handmaiden looked directly at Kitster who stood nearby. "Did you know about this?" she asked.

The black-haired little boy nodded. "He told me before we left, so I played along with it."

"Urgh!" Padmé shouted under her breath as she slammed her clenched fists downwards in absolute frustration and stomped off towards the hangar entrance.

After retrieving all the broken parts of the pod, Hes used his powers to put the vehicle back into working order, and then sold it to another junk-dealer for a small some of money. As everyone was preparing return to the spaceport, Hes asked Kitster to come along with them because he had a surprise waiting for him when they all got back. The little boy excitedly agreed.

When they finally returned to the hovel awhile later, after Qui-Gon had delivered the much needed hyperdrive repair parts to the ship and Artoo got back on-board the craft, Hes requested a word with the Jedi Master in private. As they went into an unoccupied part of the hovel, they passed by an archway that led outside, and briefly caught a glimpse of Jar Jar, Padmé, and little Anakin playing a game of hide and seek together, with little Kitster asking to join in and all three of the youngsters happily accepting.

"Yes?" asked Qui-Gon. "What is it, Hes?"

The Padawan sighed deeply as he turned to face him. "I just wanted to… apologize for my behavior last night. And… also for my use of language, that was… inappropriate," he responded.

Qui-Gon nodded his acceptance to the boy. "That's quite alright," he assured him.

Hes shook his head in bewilderment before looking up at him again. "But… I gotta know! Why? I mean, you hardly even know her!" he stated bluntly.

"She feels the same way about me, as I do about her. That's all you need to know," the Jedi Master responded.

Hes grunted heavily through his teeth. "I hope you know what you're doing," he voiced in concern.

Qui-Gon nodded. "So, is it done? Did you-"

"Yes. I went to both of the owners while you were delivering the hyperdrive generator to the ship," Hes answered. "But let's get something straight here and now, I'm not doing this for you, or for _her_. I'm only doing this solely for _him, a_ s well as his friend. I'll let you tell them yourself since I'm heading back to the ship."

Qui-Gon nodded again in response. As Hes zoomed with impossible speed out of the hovel, through the crowded streets, and back to the Queen's ship, the Jedi Master immediately went outside to speak with Shmi and the others.

"Hey!" Shmi voiced happily as Qui-Gon walked up to her and Jira, who was sitting comfortably in a chair. Qui-Gon stood there with them as the three adults quietly observed the four youths playing together down below on the ground-level.

"How's he been doing? Is he alright?" the Jedi Master asked softly.

Shmi nodded. "He's okay. But that dream that he had last night must have really bothered him greatly. Jira told me that when Ani woke up and found that I wasn't here after we'd gone, he started crying," she explained. "And it apparently took a little while for her to calm him down. But he _was_ grateful that she and Jar Jar were there with him."

Qui-Gon turned to face her. "Will you tell the others to come inside? We're about to leave soon, and I have something to explain to you all," he stated.

Shmi nodded at him, and as he went back inside the hovel, she turned around to face Jira, who smiled most kindly at her. "Thank you so very much for watching my little Anakin for me," she expressed with utmost gratitude.

"You're quite welcome, dear," Jira replied with a beaming smile. "Anytime."

As Shmi called down to the four youths to come inside, Qui-Gon's comlink went off. He then took from his belt and activated it. "Yes?"

"Master, it's me," Obi-Wan answered. "Something happened just now."

"What is it? Is everything alright?" asked Qui-Gon a bit worried.

"It's Hes. He's… unconscious," his Padawan responded. "I don't why, or even how."

Qui-Gon nodded with a hint of confusion and concern. "All right, we'll be there soon," he instructed.

"Yes, Master," replied Obi-Wan, shortly before the transmission was cut.

As the Jedi Master replaced his comlink, all five individuals come into the room. Anakin and Kitster were joyfully bounding along, their demeanor seemingly like that of excited toddlers.

"Hey, Qui-Gon!" exclaimed Anakin in utter delight.

Shmi smiled and then looked up at Qui-Gon in wonder. "So, what is it you wanted to tell us?" she asked curiously.

Qui-Gon cleared his throat. "Well, first off, you, Anakin, and Kitster should all go and pack your things. We haven't much time," he stated.

The little boys looked at each other, a very confused expression on their faces. "What are you talking about?" they asked in unison.

Shmi gave the Jedi Master a bewildered stare, and he nodded to her with a warm smile. "You're joking," she said, looking quite shocked, upon realizing what he was talking about.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "No, that's just it. I'm not joking," he remarked. "You, your son, and his friend are all no longer slaves. You're free now."

The mouths of all four youngsters present immediately fell wide-open. " _WHAT?!_ "

"But… how?" Shmi asked in profound astonishment.

"Hes," answered Qui-Gon. "It was his doing that made your freedom possible. And I'll let _him_ tell you about it later on. Also, our arrival here was not a coincidence. Nothing happens by accident."

Anakin turned to face his mother. "Did you hear that, Mom? We're free! We're actually free!"

Shmi happily smiled at her son. "Now you can make your dreams come true, Ani," she stated, before looking up at Qui-Gon again. "So… we're all coming with you? Is Ani to become a Jedi?"

The Jedi Master smiled and nodded. "Yes. But I'm afraid Jira will have to remain here on Tatooine. Only the three of you have been freed," he stated.

"W-why have I been freed? I'm not the one wanting to be a Jedi. Ani is," remarked Kitster.

Qui-Gon knelt down in front of the two boys. "Because Hes told me that you were still hoping to be rescued from here so that you could go in search of your father. That correct?" he asked.

Kitster nodded. "But how did-" A realization suddenly hit him, and he nodded to himself. "When I told Anakin, or _Hes_ , about that in the arena hangar this morning," he asserted.

"Now, come on. We need to leave here shortly," Qui-Gon said as he rose to his feet.

Anakin, Kitster, Padmé, and Jar Jar all raced off to Skywalker's room as the two little boys instantly let out a very resounding " _YIPPEE!_ ".

"Hey! No running!" Shmi shouted at them as they disappeared around a corner.

Qui-Gon chuckled a bit at hearing that. "Kids. Just too full of energy sometimes, aren't they?"

Shmi and Jira both laughed in agreement at his comment.

Anakin's mother then walked over and put her arms around Qui-Gon's neck, hugging him gratefully. "Thank you," she voiced softly.

"You're welcome," Qui-Gon replied, as they stared at each other for a long moment.

Shmi then turned to go and pack some much needed essentials for the long journey ahead of them.

As Kitster and Padmé were both helping to sort through what to pack for Anakin, Binks curiously pressed a button on C-3PO that activated the droid.

"Oh! Oh, my. Oh! Hello, Master Anakin," the droid expressed greatly as he turned to see Jar Jar staring at him. "Wait! You're not Master Anakin!"

"I'm right here, Threepio," little Anakin uttered with a giggle. "You silly."

The protocol droid turned to face the little boy. "Master Ani, what are you doing?"

"Packing," Anakin answered. "We've been freed. And you, me, Mom, and Kitster are all going away on a starship together. Isn't that great?"

"STARSHIP!?" Threepio abruptly panicked. "NO! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! I WILL NEVER GET ON-BOARD A SINGLE DREADED STARSHIP AS LONG AS I LIVE!"

Padmé came over to him. "Threepio, calm down. Hey. Relax. You'll be fine."

After they finished packing, they proceeded to work out how to transport the protocol droid, since Threepio was strongly refusing to cooperate with them. Then Binks got an idea.

"Mesa carry him on my back," he remarked. He then proceeded to lift the droid off the ground and tried to position Threepio onto his back, much to the droid's dismay.

"What in blazes are you doing? Put me down this instant, you long-eared lummox!" Threepio protested sharply.

Jar Jar suddenly felt over backwards. "Uh-oh! Whaaa!" the Gungan yelled in surprise as both of them tumbled onto the floor.

"Ouch! That hurt!" the protocol droid whined.

Anakin, Kitster, and Padmé all chuckled at the hilarious sight of the two of them.

Then little Ani helped Threepio up onto his feet. "Sorry, Threepio," he apologized in advance to the droid as he deactivated him. "But we have to get moving."

After they successful managed to mount the protocol droid onto Jar Jar's back by folding up Threepio's legs and arms together, and then strapping him to the Gungan using a few cords, everyone then left the hovel for the last time, and headed for the outskirts of the spaceport. But not before they stopped by Kitster's former slave owner's residence to quickly gather up his things and say a final farewell. And then, they quickly saw Jira off at her residence also.

As they moved towards the outskirts again, Qui-Gon suddenly drew his lightsaber and then deactivated it just as swiftly as he promptly cut down one of the black probe droids in half that had floated up behind the group, as he sensed it to be a direct threat.

"What is it?" Anakin asked, as he stepped closer to look at it.

Qui-Gon knelt down to inspect the droid more closely. "A probe droid," he answered.

Shmi and the others turned around to see why they had suddenly stopped just a few yards away.

"Very unusual," the Jedi Master uttered curiously. His expression all of a sudden shifted to one of alertness as he looked around hastily. "Not like anything I've seen before. Come on!"

He immediately rose to his feet, turned and began sprinting in the direction of the outskirts. "Go! Run!" he shouted to the others, and they all instantly turned and bolted for the location of the waiting Naboo royal ship.

Meanwhile, the second probe droid that Darth Maul sent to spy on the Jedi's location had returned. As it floated past him, Maul mounted his custom-made speeder and zoomed off across the desert sands of the planet to intercept the Jedi and the Queen before they had a chance to escape.

As Qui-Gon and the others came within sight of the waiting craft, little Anakin began to falter. "Qui-Gon, sir, wait up! I'm tired!" he shouted.

The Jedi Master suddenly heard something behind him and turned to look just as Darth Maul sped towards them. "Anakin! Drop!" he ordered.

Anakin dropped to the dirt as Darth Maul flew directly over his head.

Both Qui-Gon and Maul ignited their weapons as the Sith Lord flipped into the air off his speeder and attacked the Jedi Master.

"Go!" shouted Qui-Gon as Anakin got to his feet and bolted for the on-ramp just as the rest of the group got aboard the ship. "Tell them to take off!"

As Maul swung fiercely at the Jedi Master, Qui-Gon managed to block or dodge the Zabrak's ever attack, but he was waning fast.

"Qui-Gon's in trouble," Panaka said to Obi-Wan as he, Anakin, and Padmé all entered the cockpit.

Obi-Wan sat down in the co-pilot's seat next to Ric Olié. "Take off. Over there, fly low," he instructed, pointing to a small dust cloud to their left as he could see two shafts of light dancing about.

As the ship's engines roared to life and the craft steadily rose into the air, Maul cartwheeled over Qui-Gon who swung his lightsaber downwards to block oncoming attack as Maul landed.

The ship moved closer towards the two combatants, and Qui-Gon took this opportunity to leap up onto the still lowered on-ramp. But just as he did so, Maul followed suit and leapt onto the ramp after him. As Qui-Gon spun around to block another attack, both Kitster and Shmi caught a glimpse of the red and black tattooed monster, and Kitster screamed in fear as Shmi shielded him.

As Darth Maul was about to deal a killing blow down on Qui-Gon, the Jedi Master kicked his leg at the last second, and knocked the Zabrak off the ramp as the Naboo craft sped away from the planet.

Darth Maul flipped and landed squarely on his feet, back onto the dusty desert landscape of Tatooine. Deactivating his lightsaber, the Sith Lord watched as the Queen's ship escaped.

Qui-Gon immediately collapsed onto the floor of the main cargo hold, exhausted and out of breath as he deactivated his weapon.

"Are you alright?" asked Anakin as he and Obi-Wan both ran up to him, with the rest of the group gathering around them.

"I think so," Qui-Gon assured them, still trying to catch his breath as he sat up.

"What was it?" asked Obi-Wan, rather perplexed.

"I'm not sure. But it was well-trained in the Jedi arts. Whatever it was, my guess is, that it was after the Queen," the Jedi Master surmised.

"What are we gonna do about it?" Anakin asked, rather worried.

Qui-Gon let out an exhaustive sigh from his lungs, and looked at the little boy. "We should be patient. Anakin, Shmi, Kitster, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi. My apprentice," he declared, gesturing to the his apprentice.

As the group introduced themselves to Obi-Wan, and he to them, both Master and apprentice looked at each other and chuckled.

* * *

Author's Note: I made the boy, Kitster Banai, partially an orphan in this fanfiction so that he could go in search of his father. I borrowed the idea from Star Wars Legends.


	10. Ch 9 - Unexpected Detour 2

Author's Note: At long last! The crossover portion of this fanfiction has finally arrived. Although, it is still unclear as to how long it will be, or how many chapters it will entail.

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **Unexpected Detour #2**

At the royal palace of Theed on Naboo in the dead of night, the Viceroy sat atop a slow-moving mechno-chair as he spoke with Governor Sio Bibble concerning a recently organized labor protest movement against the tyrannical oppression of the invading Trade Federation.

"When are you going to give up this pointless strike?" Gunray asked in a somewhat annoyed manner as they slowly walked through one of the long hallways in the palace. "Your Queen is lost, your people are starving, and you, Governor, are going to die much sooner than your people, I'm afraid."

"This invasion will gain you nothing," remarked the Governor. "We're a democracy. The people have decided. They will not live under your tyranny."

Gunray gestured with his right hand to the two security droids that stood guard behind Bibble. "Take him away!" the Neimoidian ordered.

As the security droids escorted Bibble down a flight of steps immediately to their right, and back to the internment camp, a commander droid promptly approached Viceroy Gunray.

"My troops are in position to begin searching the swamps for these rumored underwater villages. They will not stay hidden for long," it stated.

Gunray nodded to the droid in reply with a slight smirk on his face.

On-board the royal Naboo ship, almost everyone was asleep. Padmé, now once again in her handmaiden attire, exited the lift and walked over to a nearby control-panel, pressing a button which activated it. A playback hologram of the message that Sio Bibble had transmitted to the ship earlier instantly appeared.

" _The death toll is catastrophic. We must bow to their wishes. You must contact me!_ " the holographic message repeated as before.

As the hologram faded out of existence, Padmé looked down with a great sense of worry in her eyes. She abruptly heard soft noises coming from her immediate left, turning to see both Anakin and Kitster huddled together in a corner, both children trying desperately to keep each other warm.

"You two all right?" she asked with concern at the sight of them.

"It's very cold," the little boys remarked simultaneously, both of them nearly shivering.

Padmé immediately walked over to a storage compartment and took out a couple large blankets before approaching the children and wrapping them around each of the boys' shaking little frames, quietly striding passed Jar Jar who was soundly snoring away in a chair with his feet up on a table. As she sat down next to them, Anakin smiled gratefully at her. The handmaiden smiled back in return, before letting her expression turn to one of distress.

"Padmé, what's wrong?" asked Anakin, his expression immediately shifting into a sad frown.

"You seem sad," Kitster noted, suddenly looking most unsettled.

"The Queen is worried," Padmé answered them softly. "Her people are suffering, dying. She must convince the Senate to intervene, or… I'm not sure what'll happen."

"What do you mean… they're suffering? Are you saying that they've become…" asked Kitster before he trailed off, a look of pure dread crossing his face.

Padmé shook her head. "Maybe. To be honest, I don't rightly know if they have become slaves or not. And I'm tremendously fearful of that being so," she stated in reply, as a moment later a single visible tear ran down her cheek, landing on her garments.

Upon learning of this as the highly probable fate of the Queen's people becoming the very thing of which he so categorically despised, Anakin's lower lip began to slowly quiver until it shook so badly that he could ultimately hold back the tears no longer. Letting his head droop down low, the small child abruptly began to sob quietly with outright despair.

Seeing this, Kitster put a much needed comforting arm around his best friend as the handmaiden leaned in closer towards them both, wrapping her arms gently around the two youngsters in a comfortingly kind-hearted embrace and held them for quite a long time while little Anakin frantically cried into her shoulder with big tears streaming from his sorrowful eyes, subsequently causing Padmé's clothing to instantly become drenched in the salty fluid. And after just under an hour or so, the trio finally pulled away slowly from one another.

Anakin gently rubbed his eyes with his small fists and yawned, looking very tired.

"You all right, Ani?" asked Padmé. "You look like you're gonna fall asleep."

The little boy simply gazed up at her drowsily before his head finally slumped forward, and he was out. As she smiled tenderly down at him, Padmé decidedly re-positioned herself so that her back was resting comfortably up against the wall next to Kitster as she gently took Anakin into her arms, gradually rocking him back and forth like a baby while little Kitster rested his head on her arm, snuggling up close beside her and slowly closing his eyes as he drifted off to sleep.

A short while later, everyone who was asleep, Padmé herself included, were all suddenly jolted wide-awake when the Queen's ship unexpectedly came out of hyperspace. Except that they were by no means anywhere near their intended destination-point. In fact, they still had quite a long ways to go yet before they even reached the capital world of Coruscant and the Galactic Republic.

Just as the ship was coming out of hyperspace, Hes, who was still sprawled unconscious across one of the audience seats in the now empty throne room, received a most violent wake-up call when the vessel had lurched to almost a complete stop. The Queen had given the Jedi permission to move Hes onto one of the more comfortable audience seats in the throne room from where he originally lay on the floor of the main cargo hold just after the ship went into hyperspace, as the Queen was planning to retire to her royal quarters in order to rest-up during the long journey ahead of them. The twelve-year-old's body was immediately yanked off the seat, bouncing around from wall to wall a couple times before landing with a solid thud in the very center of the room.

"Oof!" Hes groaned in pain, and then slowly staggered to his feet. "All right, that freakin' hurt."

After leisurely getting to his feet and using a meditation technique to banish whatever pain he received from his all too sudden awakening, Hes walked into the main cargo hold of the vessel and found Binks sitting on the floor with a very confused look on his face, wondering what had just happened. Padmé, Anakin, and Kitster abruptly stood up from the corner where they had all been sleeping, looking pretty much the same way expression-wise.

Qui-Gon and Shmi suddenly appeared from another part of the ship, both slightly perplexed. Shmi herself seemed more-less worried about the state of the children.

"Are you okay?" she asked them frantically.

They both nodded at her, indicating that they were indeed fine.

Qui-Gon looked over at Hes. "You're awake," he uttered. "Are you all right?"

"Aside from being ricocheted off the walls like a shooter in a pinball machine, I'm just peachy," the Padawan answered semi-sarcastically.

Everyone looked a one another in total bewilderment before glancing back at Hes, who rolled his eyes at remembering that the group wouldn't know anything of what he was talking about.

"I'll tell you about that some other time," he remarked bluntly.

Just then, Obi-Wan exited the lift and walked into the main cargo hold, approaching the hyperdrive bay in the floor at the room's center. As he gestured with his left hand to a control-panel nearby, using the Force to activate it and then pressed a few of it's illuminated buttons, thereby causing the vessel's bay hatch to open and the hyperdrive to rise up from beneath the cargo hold floor so that Obi-Wan could examine it closely.

"Obi-Wan, what is it? Why have we come out of hyperspace all the way out here?" asked Qui-Gon.

"There was an alert showing on a panel display in the cockpit. It warned that there was a problem concerning the hyperdrive. That's why we came out of lightspeed, Master," Obi-Wan answered.

Hes rolled his eyes and sighed heavily with a look of exasperation on his face at hearing this. "Again? I thought we just had the damn thing fixed!"

"Well, you _did_ get those repair parts from a junk store after all," little Anakin remarked as he walked over to take a look at the hyperdrive.

All of a sudden, Captain Panaka's voice sounded loud and clear over the ship's intercom system.

"This is Panaka. I think you might wanna get up here and take a look at this, Jedi," he vocalized in total dubiety. "The coordinates to our current location aren't showing up anywhere on the navicomputer, and there's something rather particularly interesting which is just now visible up ahead of us through the viewport."

The three Jedi immediately took the lift up to the cockpit area, and when the trio stepped into the confined space, Hes was instantly shocked to his very core at what he saw directly in front of him.

"I don't believe it," the young Padawan quietly expressed to himself with downright incredulity.

Ric Olié turned around to glance over at Hes, who managed to catch a bit of what he said. "What?" the pilot asked.

Hes looked straight at him. "I know what planet that is," he responded at once.

Panaka stared curiously at the young Jedi upon hearing this. "Are you saying that… you've seen, or even been to that world before?" he inquired.

The twelve-year-old Padawan Learner simply nodded his head "yes" as he momentarily glanced in his direction.

"I'm afraid so, Captain."


	11. Ch 10 - Hearing Things

Author's Note: The next chapter in the crossover portion of this fanfiction story is now up… _finally_.

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **Hearing Things**

As the Naboo royal ship sped directly towards the unknown planet that was just up ahead, Hes continued to stare in stunned disbelief at the sight before him.

' _How the hell did we end up getting all the way out here?_ ' he thought to himself.

The pilot, Olié, turned around to glance behind him at Starrgazer. "So, then… what planet is that? You said that you've been there before," he asserted.

Hes glanced at him, still with a partially dumbfounded expression on his face. "It's the world that I initially came from. The one which I was born on," the boy replied.

Qui-Gon nodded with arrant understanding, knowing full well of the planet's name since Hes had personally disclosed said information to him regarding the boy's history and origins soon after they had first met each other years prior.

" _Earth._ "

Panaka and Olié both looked at each other in great surprise upon hearing this astounding revelation.

As the planet grew larger and larger in the viewport as a result of the ship moving ever closer towards it, the vessel's sensors immediately detected something strange in front of it. Olié pressed a couple buttons on his control-panel, and a display reading indicated the presence of a number of large tracking devices that were orbiting around the planet.

"We're picking up a small amount of tracking instruments directly in front of us," he stated.

"Probably satellites. Earth's technologies are quite primitive in comparison, but still effective to an extent," Hes responded.

Captain Panaka glanced at the pilot. "Have they spotted us?" he promptly asked.

After thoroughly scanning his instrument panels, Olié shook his head. "It doesn't look like it. But I don't think that we should take any chances," he stated firmly.

Panaka nodded in agreement. Hes then stepped forward as an idea popped into his head. "We could use the Force to cloak the ship from detection," he suggested.

"That's possible, I suppose. Although, it may be difficult," said Qui-Gon, looking down at the boy.

Hes turned around to look at the Jedi Master. "Well, why not give it a shot. Besides, there's really nowhere else to go," he pointed out.

Qui-Gon looked at Obi-Wan who in turn glanced at his mentor and they both nodded in unison, opting to try and use the Force to cloak the ship from being noticed. The three Jedi then stood in a tightly enclosed circle, each grasping hold of the other's hands. As the trio closed their eyes and concentrated on making the Queen's ship completely invisible to the slowly approaching tracking instruments, Hes mentally instructed the pilot to make for the dark section of the planet, where it was well past dusk and there would be far less of a chance of getting seen by the populous.

As the ship flew past the satellites one after the other, Hes used his powers to scan each of the orbital devices, checking to see if any single one of them was picking up the Queen's ship on their computer systems. So far, their plan was working flawlessly. And after passing by the last few satellites, the ship then rocketed towards the western hemisphere of the planet. Passing through the atmosphere, they almost immediately came into direct contact with some very nasty-looking storm clouds. Lightning began to flash all around as the Naboo ship headed for a thickly wooded area with a somewhat large pond in the middle where it's cover could be maintained behind a layer of trees.

Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Hes then all went back down the lift to the main cargo hold to examine the hyperdrive further after the ship touched down very near the pond, where there was a large enough of a clearing for the vessel to land.

While Obi-Wan was busy looking over the hyperdrive, Hes began to hear strange noises and sounds coming to him through the Force from all directions. Closing his eyes, the Padawan focused in on a certain location that was nearby, listening intensely to the frantic voices that were emanating from that immediate region.

" _Molly, dear, get inside! They're coming! Hurry!_ "

" _There are too many of them, Arthur! We need to gather up the children and go!_ "

Opening his eyes again, Hes looked over at Obi-Wan. "How long will it take to fix the problem with the hyperdrive?" he asked a bit hastily.

"Don't know yet. I'd say… ruffly two maybe three hours at most, once I find out the cause of the hyperdrive's malfunctioning," answered Obi-Wan quite frankly.

Little Anakin motioned forward with great enthusiasm. "Can I help?" he asked, while wildly bouncing up and down on his heels. "Please, please, please, please, please?"

Shmi laughed at her son's feisty eagerness to want to help the young Jedi, and Qui-Gon smiled proudly at the child.

Obi-Wan sighed quietly to himself and looked to the little boy's mother for her approval, who in turn gave it. "All right. But just be careful," he strongly advised.

Hes suddenly began to hear the noises and sounds through the Force once again. He immediately looked over at Qui-Gon, who noticed the boy's urgent expression. "I'm going out to have a look around for a bit, guys. I hopefully won't be gone long," he announced.

"What is it, Hes," asked the Jedi Master curiously.

"I'm starting to suspect we didn't just come here due to a problem with the hyperdrive. I do strongly believe however that the Force led us here specifically for a reason," stated the Padawan.

Qui-Gon closed his eyes and meditated on the Force for a brief moment, before opening them again. He looked straight at the boy and nodded in agreement, and Hes nodded back with a hint of determination written on his face.

As Obi-Wan continued to examine the hyperdrive, with little Anakin closely observing for the moment, both Qui-Gon and Hes went to the boarding ramp and lowered it. After shifting both his clothes and hair to something much more pertinent that was relative to the planet's inhabitants, Hes took something out of his pocket and showed it to Qui-Gon.

"What is that?" the Jedi Master asked, looking at the strange device.

"It's just my comlink," answered Hes. "But I disguised it to resemble a communications device that's used here on Earth. It's what they call a ' _cellular phone_ '."

Qui-Gon nodded, only partially understanding. "So… what will happen with that when I signal for you to return?"

"Well, here let me show you," Hes responded, pressing a few buttons on the device's illuminated keypad. A moment later, the device began to emanate a slightly awkward sound, and Qui-Gon looked at the boy rather confused.

Hes sighed under his breath as his smiled. "I know. It makes that weird noise whenever there's an incoming transmission from it. They call it a ' _ring tone_ ', but it's really not a ringing sound at all."

Qui-Gon nodded once more and Hes exited the vessel, now sporting a grey t-shirt with long dark blue jeans, brown hiking boots and a black full-length leather raincoat with a hood, which were all just a tad snug due to the boy's muscular physique. As he casually strode along through the woods, the young Padawan all of a sudden started hearing the noises and sounds for a third time. Only now, they were slowly becoming much more intense and loud, this time followed by the anguished shouting, screaming, and crying of small children.

Hes bolted through the woods with such unimaginable speed that the line of trees which he was zigzagging through left and right toppled over due to the colossally powerful air blast that trailed along behind the boy as he ran. And as he felt a strong pull in the Force, promptly warning him of imminent danger, Hes leapt into the air and flew through the sky, momentarily gliding directly into the storm clouds as the lightning discharged all around him, briefly coursing throughout his entire body as he manipulated the atmospheric energy with little effort.

As the boy glided back down towards the Earth, he could see an odd-shaped house in the middle of a field, where it looked like a large group of black-robed individuals were terrorizing a local family directly below him. Hes angled his whole body forwards so that he was in a front-facing position as he pulled his legs and feet tightly together with his hands and arms firmly to his sides, dive-bombing face-first towards a wide-open clearing in the field.

Meanwhile, the group down below in the field was firing colored bolts of energy at two of the family members with small sticks as the man and woman, who were trying desperately to defend both each other as well as their children, were warding off their attackers using exactly the same method. Then suddenly, one of the attackers fired a blue bolt of energy at the man and he went flying backwards, landing hard as a female in the group cackled manically at what had just occurred.

"Arthur!" the woman screamed frantically to her husband.

The female assailant stepped closer towards the woman and spoke. "Now, trollop! Where is he?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, you bloody blighter!" the woman cried angrily.

Upon hearing this insult, the attacker lunged forward and flicked her wrist with the stick which she held firmly in her grasp. A moment later, something very small flew out of the house right past the woman's head and she stared in complete horror as the tiny thing glided into the assailant's arms. The petite bundle was a baby that immediately began to squeal ever so loudly in both fear and confusion as the female attacker pointed her stick at it.

"RONALD! NO! NOT MY BABY, _PLEASE!_ " the woman screamed.

The attacker gave her a monstrously wicked sneer. "Tell me where the little Potter brat is right this instant, or this one dies!" she bellowed threateningly.

Suddenly, the wind blew tremendously and the atmosphere crackled with intense amounts of electricity as the swath of storm clouds rolled overhead. An instant later, a huge bolt of lightning stretched down from the sky and impacted with the ground just yards away from the lot.

Hes rose to his feet from his three-point landing position, with both of his irides softly illuminated by a reddish-orange glow, looking mightily pissed-off as he quite vocally and aggressively exploded.

" _ **LEAVE HIM!**_ "


	12. Ch 11 - The Rescue

Author's Note: New chapter is up. Still one or two more chapters remaining in this crossover portion of the fanfiction. Maybe three. I don't know yet.

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **The Rescue**

Everyone present immediately stopped and looked in the direction of where the lightning strike had come from, all of them staring in confusion and wonder at the sight of the boy who was now standing on a charred patch of ground.

"This will be the only time I say it. _Let the baby go!_ " Hes commanded sternly.

The female assailant, who was firmly clutching the still wailing infant in her arms, scowled at Hes in absolute rage and disgust as he slowly motioned towards the group. She looked over at her companions as she moved back, signaling for them to deal with the interloper at once.

A few of the male assailants stepped forward and pointed their sticks at the boy, who allowed a slight smirk to curl across his lips upon seeing this. Then suddenly, a thin bolt of blue light shot from the tip of the attacker's stick and hit the Padawan square in the stomach, causing Hes to fly backwards off his feet.

Hes back-flipped a couple times and landed another three-pointer as he skidded backwards, before coming to a dead halt. Raising his head up, Hes looked directly at the group of assailants with a now challenging glare in his eyes, which were once again normal.

"So…that's the way you wanna play it, huh? Fine," he whispered rather boldly, almost to himself.

Charging forward, Hes raised his right arm toward the sky and a bright flash of lightning shot down from the clouds and straight to his hand, forming into an electrified quarterstaff-like weapon. As the group of assailants fired bolts of energy at him, he twirled his weapon and deflected an energy blast, before dodging a few more oncoming attacks with ease. Hes then did a three-sixty spin on his heels as he swung at one the attackers, sending him flying as he screamed out in sheer pain from being hit by the electrical discharge of the weapon.

The assailants continued to fire bursts of destructive energy at the boy, but Hes simply either ducked, dodged, jumped, spun, somersaulted, flipped, or cartwheeled to avoid their onslaught, all while stunning foes left and right fairly quickly into a semi-comatose state with his weapon. The female attacker, who was still holding the crying baby in her arms, started to panic as she saw that they were quite rapidly losing to this… mere boy.

As Hes continued knocking out enemies with stylish acrobatic finesse, the red-headed woman tended to her husband momentarily, before turning to see the female attacker attempting to flee away from the scene and into the night with the baby in tow.

"Ron! _Nooo!_ " the woman howled in despair.

Hearing the scream, Hes glanced behind him and saw the female assailant trying to escape with the baby as her captive. He immediately extracted a small bolt of electricity from his weapon which formed into a round sphere. As he tossed it up and over his head to the right of him, the sphere landed just in front of the three remaining male attackers and exploded violently, sending all of them flipping end over end into the air and knocking them out.

As the female attacker made a break for it, a thick cloud of charcoal-black smoke engulfed both her and the baby, before taking off into the sky away from the immediate area. Hes instantly followed them as his entire body morphed into a bolt of pure energy which chased after the black smoke that raced maddeningly towards the storm clouds high above them. The column of thick smoke banked from side to side, as well as ascended and descended both in and out of the clouds, trying desperately to lose it's pursuer. Yet every time it tried to flee in whichever direction that was possible, the electrified bolt of energy would always be right there in front of it, blocking it's path of escape.

On the ground, the red-headed woman managed to rouse her husband out of his unconscious state. Just as that happened, a number of small children came running outside of their house.

"Mummy? Mummy? What's going on? What happened?" two of the little boys, who both looked uncannily alike, asked their mother in unison.

"I thought I told you all to stay inside. It's too dangerous out here," the woman scolded. "Go back inside. Now!"

The woman's husband looked directly at her as a feeling immediately crept over him that something was very, very wrong. "Molly, where is he? Where's Ron?" he asked frantically.

"She t-took him, Arthur," answered his wife, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "B-Bellatrix took our s-son."

As the woman's husband stared at her in complete shock and disbelief at what his wife was telling him, she immediately broke down and clasped into his arms as he held her close to him.

High above them, the two opposing forces continued to ' _dance about_ ' in the clouds. The smoke continued to either move back and forth, up and down, or any other which direction that it could possibly go, still trying most desperately to escape the bolt of energy that easily countered it's every maneuver. Then, in a sudden turn about face, the column of black smoke did a complete one-eighty, and backtracked in the other direction.

Seeing this happen, Hes gradually became irritated as he promptly shifted back into his physical form.

"Enough!"

With a semi-loud thunderclap of his hands, Hes sent a mild shock-wave directly at the smoke column, so as not to injure or harm the baby. As soon as the shock-wave hit it's target, the female assailant lost her grip on the shrieking infant as she was knocked aside, and it fell as she turned back into her normal state. Hes instantly bolted forward like a missile and sped towards the little one as he momentarily shifted into his lightning form, before gently catching the baby in mid-flight just as he changed back.

Briefly checking to see if the little tyke had sustained any form of injury, whether internally or externally using his powers to do so, and surprisingly didn't find a single scratch-mark anywhere on the child's tiny frame, the Padawan then swiftly raced back down towards the field as fast as he could safely go without causing any harm to the infant that now lay in the crook of his arm.

Suddenly, a bolt of energy shot past the two and Hes turned his head to see the female assailant, who had instantly recovered from the impact of the shock-wave that she had been struck with just a moment earlier, chasing after them in her smoke form with full fury.

As the three of them came out of the clouds, Hes went into an immediate evasive maneuver, ducking and dodging to avoid the energy blasts that were aimed at both him and the baby. And as the floor came up fast, the young Padawan slowly somersaulted forwards before landing a very steep three-pointer, slamming the knuckles of his clenched fist into the ground and causing it to spiderweb a few feet outwards underneath him, as he used his powers to manipulate the g-forces from both the rapid descent and the sudden-stop around the infant so that he wouldn't get hurt. Slowly rising to his feet, Hes then removed his fist and the cracks in the terrain gradually sealed themselves shut.

Hearing the noise of the landing, the two adults looked up to see Hes holding their infant son who was miraculously unharmed. All of a sudden, the female assailant came charging at Hes and baby with tremendous speed. Both of the baby's parents looked up in horror as a bright green glow of light started to manifest at the tip of the attacker's stick. The woman looked back at Hes in a panic.

"Look out!" she shrieked.

Just as the assailant was about to attack them one final time, Hes spun around and raised his hand towards the blackened cloud-filled sky. Lightning began to surge across the blanketed ether as the attacker came closer and closer.

"Avada Kedav- _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH_ _‼_ "

A blindingly thin strand of white lightning suddenly discharged from the clouds and struck it's target with the full force of a sledgehammer as Hes flung his arm out across his chest, abruptly stopping the motion with his finger pointed directly at the oncoming assailant as she flicked her wrist while firmly grasping hold of the stick in her hand.

As the attacker's inert body went into a complete tailspin as it plummeted, Hes shielded the infant with his own body in the event that the assailant were to collide into them as she fell. Fortunately, her unconscious body landed in the field with a loud thud merely a few feet away.

"She's gonna feel that one when she wakes up," the Padawan remarked upon seeing her static form lying on the ground.

Hes looked down at the small baby that was resting in the fork of his arm who was still crying softly, but was now looking rather visibly tired do to all of the stuff that had just now been happening around him. As he gently rocked the little one to further calm him down, the boy looked up to see the child's parents running towards them, and he casually strode over to greet them, as well as to hand them back their son.

"Oh, Merlin! Ron, are you okay?" the woman asked her partially distraught son as she carefully took the baby from Hes and soothingly cradled the little one in her arms. "I thought I'd lost you."

The woman's husband stepped forward to greet the young lad. "Thank you for saving our son," he voiced gratefully, shaking Hes' hand. "I'm Arthur. Arthur Weasley. This is my wife Molly."

Hes nodded to them in response. "You might want to have him looked at, just to be safe. I did a thoroughly quick scan of him while we were up there, and didn't find any sort of marks or injuries anywhere on his body, thank the Force."

Arthur and Molly both looked at each other in total confusion upon hearing the last bit of what the Padawan was saying.

Suddenly, Hes instantaneously sensed something far off in the distance and turned to his right as he levitated his body high up into the air, a number of yards from the ground. Magnifying his vision several times over, he could clearing make out a burning tree trunk that had fallen over in the middle of a side road that was some miles away. He also noticed a car with at least two occupants inside who appeared to be in dire trouble. He could feel an intensely strong pull of the Force, guiding his thoughts, as though it were prodding him to aid those people for some as yet unknown reason.

Right before Hes made the decision to go and investigate the incident, Molly looked up at him with a pleading expression on her face.

"Wait!" she called out to him quite hastily.

But it was already too late. Hes took off like a shot across the field as he jetted at supersonic speeds over the landscape… and was gone.

"WHO ARE YOU?!"


	13. Ch 12 - Ungrateful Assistance

Author's Note: This next chapter is **_finally_** up. And with that said, I think I will put this story on pause for awhile, due to the upcoming holidays in a couple months. I won't stop writing. But I just won't post anything for a time until I have a substantial number of fully-written chapters up and ready that can be posted back to back, instead of one at a time. I'm also working on future installments and sequels for this story. So, to all you out there… _PLEASE_ be patient.

Warning: Mentions of alcohol and violence/abuse. ( _Chapter possibly rated Fiction M._ )

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **Ungrateful Assistance**

On-board the Naboo ship, Obi-Wan continued to slowly and carefully work on the hyperdrive, with Anakin lending him a hand here and there with the repairs at times. As Kitster closely observed what was happening, he quietly voiced inwardly to himself about maybe someday wanting to become a brilliant mechanic or even an engineer when he grew up, but only after going to look for his father.

As both Obi-Wan and Anakin worked on the hyderdrive, the little boy looked up at Qui-Gon's apprentice in thoughtful wonder. "So… how did you and Qui-Gon first meet?" he asked him curiously.

Obi-Wan looked over at little Anakin in utter surprise, clearly not expecting to be asked that kind of a question.

"It was a long time ago," he responded, as he went back to continue with what he was doing. "I was still an apprentice at the Jedi Temple back then."

Kitster looked over at him rather intrigued at the tale. "How old were you?" he asked inquisitively.

"Twelve," Obi-Wan answered, not once taking his eyes off his current task. "Qui-Gon would often come to the Temple just to observe the current groups of students who trained there, myself included. He also tended to stay just long enough to conduct whatever sorts of business he needed to with the other Knights and Masters, and then promptly leave without ever choosing to take up a new Padawan Learner as his student. He had done that several times before in the past as I recall, prier to ether of us meeting face to face."

Anakin and Kitster looked at each other, before turning to look at Obi-Wan again. "Qui-Gon had another student before he met you?"

"Yes," answered Obi-Wan as he nodded slightly.

Kitster looked at the Jedi rather curiously, wanting to know more. "Who was it? What was their name?" he asked.

The young Jedi shook his head at the two youngsters. "Sorry. Can't tell you. Qui-Gon doesn't like it when I bring up his past much."

"Aw, come on! That's not fair!" both of the little boys whined. They both folded their little arms across their chests as they gave Obi-Wan poutful looks while muttering under their breaths. " _Humph!_ "

Just then, Qui-Gon and Shmi entered the cargo hold, and Shmi immediately noticed the children's sulky expressions on their faces.

She let out a heavy sigh of exasperation. "All right, you two. What's wrong?" she demanded.

Anakin looked over at his mother. "Obi-Wan won't tell us who Qui-Gon's student was before they met each other," he answered while still wearing a pouty face.

Qui-Gon all of a sudden had an air of absolute surprise about him at hearing the child even mention such a thing.

Shmi instantly noticed the abrupt shift in the Jedi Master's expression, and that worried her a bit.

"Hey. Is everything all right?" she gently asked, putting her hand lightly on his arm.

A moment later, Qui-Gon looked over to his immediate right at her and promptly shook his head to clear away his thoughts on the matter.

"Yes. Fine. I'm fine," he replied, sharply clearing his throat.

Little Anakin glanced over at the Jedi Master, after watching the two adults for sometime and seeing the odd way they always seemed to be looking at each other, giving him the impression that there was something much more going on between them. "Qui-Gon, sir… is it alright for me to ask you something?" he requested a bit hesitantly.

"Yes, Ani, what do you want to ask me?" Qui-Gon inquired, looking down at the little boy.

Anakin signaled with his finger for the Jedi Master to come closer towards him. Qui-Gon then knelt down on the floor so that both of them were at eye-level with each other. And as he tilted his head to the side, little Anakin put his hand next to his mouth and leaned in close to the Jedi's head to whisper something into his ear.

" _Are you and Mom both going to get married soon?_ "

Meanwhile, Hes sped through the air towards the burning tree trunk and the trapped occupants of the car that was so dangerously close to the hugely roaring flames which completely consumed the trunk, from stem to root. As he flew away from the Weasley's homestead, he failed to notice a large number of white smoke columns descending down upon the field, with several individuals dressed in odd-looking robes and uniforms also appearing out of thin air.

Landing on his feet near the gigantic blaze, Hes walked forward and was just about to use his powers to extinguish the fire, when a mysterious voice abruptly called out in a hushed whisper that sounded as though it were coming from all directions.

" _Don't save him!_ "

Hes briefly stopped in his tracks and looked all around him to determine where the voice was coming from.

"Hello? Who's there?" he asked.

" _Don't save him!_ "

"Who is it?! Where are you?!" Hes demanded sharply.

" _Don't save him!_ "

Turning back to look at the raging flames, Hes very suddenly came face to face with the shadowy silhouette of a dark-robed figure, whose stature was overshadowed by the bright yellow flames directly behind him, thus making him look even more frightening than he already appeared. Concentrating very intensely to see just who it was underneath the hood of this cloaked form, all the Padawan could make out was an empty void of nothing where the individual's head should in fact be. The menacing figure lifted it's head slightly, and Hes could feel it looking at him dead-square in the eyes as it spoke with a convincingly callous tone of a whisper, higher than before.

" _DON'T SAVE HIM!_ "

The menacing figure abruptly vanished in a haze like a ghostly apparition fading away into the darkness. Shaking his head to expel what he had just experienced from his thoughts, Hes lunged forward and with a thunderclap of his hands, sent a huge blast of air that immediately killed the fire before it had a chance to morph into a ginormous inferno, thus resulting in a conflagration that would have gradually devoured all of the other trees and everything else around it.

After the fire was put out, Hes rushed over to the car which was an onyx blue four-door hatchback. Peering in through one of the windows, he saw a thin film of smoke, as well as the _three_ occupants inside who appeared to be slowly overtaken by the toxic cloud. Using the Force, he unlocked all of the vehicle's doors before opening up all of them and then used his powers to suck all of the smoke into his mouth before he levitated himself high into the air and then blew the smoke out into the atmosphere. Hes immediately heard the two occupants stumble out of the vehicle, coughing and gasping for breath as the Padawan lowered himself back down to the ground, and he went over to aid them however he could.

The female occupant looked up to see Hes walking towards her and she instantly pointed towards the back seat of the car, gesturing for Hes to help the occupant who was still trapped back there.

"P- please! S- save m- my b- baby! H- help h- her!" she managed to yell out through the sound of each hoarse cough that restricted her breathing.

Hes quickly motioned towards the back seat of the vehicle and saw a tiny baby girl, strapped into a chair seat, both coughing and wheezing rather shallowly at the same time due to inhaling the smoke from the fire. Unbuckling the car seat belt, Hes gathered the infant up in his arms before walking over to the child's mother, who was still coughing. Thinking fast, Hes quickly searched the car, looking for a water bottle. Or anything that could be used as such. Reaching way down underneath one of the seats, his hand brushed against something metallic. And upon removing it, Hes found what appeared to be a liquor flask.

After dumping out the contents inside the flask, and then using his powers to both clean and sterilize it as well as get rid of the scent of alcohol, Hes used his ability of elemental manipulation to extract fresh cool clear water directly from the surrounding environment, and then quickly filled up the container. Suddenly, the Padawan abruptly heard a sharp loud cry of panic coming from the infant's mother.

"No! Hermione, no! Please don't do this!" she yelled in distress. "HERMIONE!"

Hes rushed over to see what was wrong and instantly noticed that the child was no longer breathing. Politely asking her mother if he could momentarily take the child in his arms, with her allowing it after a minor point of consideration on her part, Hes used his powers to suck all of the smoke from the infant's lungs and airways. Then, turning his head towards the sky, exhaled the smoke back out into the atmosphere away from the bunch of them. Using his powers one last time on the child, the Padawan ever so faintly blew fresh oxygen from his lungs directly into hers. And since his lungs were supercharged, it only took less than a moment before the infant briefly coughed and then started to wail quite loudly.

Breathing in a sigh of relief, the Padawan handed the baby to her mother once again, whom he noticed was _still_ coughing slightly.

"Oh, here. Drink this," Hes advised, handing the flask to the woman, who in turn looked at it rather oddly. "Don't worry, I emptied it out and refilled it with plain water after thoroughly cleaning it."

" _Y- YOU D- DID W- WHAT!?_ " the woman's husband roared angrily through the sound of mild coughing due to smoke inhalation.

All of a sudden, everyone heard a loud creaking noise as a large tree trunk slowly started to fall over, directly in the path of where the man now stood. As he turned around and look up in horror, the trunk came down on him as he squatted down and covered his head with his hands. Hes cartwheeled onto the hood of the car and caught the falling tree trunk with both hands before it crushed him. And then, to her astonishment, the woman present watched as this young boy lifted the rather sizable tree trunk up over his head with relative ease before hurling it directly across the road, and the trunk landed in a gully clear on the opposite side with a loud crash.

Hes then turned to see if the man was okay, and saw that he was glaring at him with a very bitter scowl across his face. "Uh. You okay, sir?" asked the Padawan a bit confused.

"Get away from me!" the man retorted violently, shoving him away. As he walked back to the vehicle, his wife gestured that she wanted to tell him something, when the man unexpectedly turned on her in a furious rage. " _WHAT!?_ "

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Hes as moved towards the couple.

"You stay away from us…YOU FREAK‼" the man lashed out after witnessing the humanly impossible feat that Hes had just now managed to accomplish. Turning back to his wife, he angrily motioned for her to get back in the vehicle immediately. "Get in the car! We're going to the hospital!" he ordered, before muttering to himself. " _And that was very expensive liquor he just wasted too!_ "

The woman's husband then violently snatched the flask away from her, who managed to take quite a few sips of water from it, as well as give a number of large trickles of the cool refreshing liquid to her daughter, before having it ripped forcefully out of her hand. Examining the flask, he furiously tossed it aside into the bushes.

As the couple got back into their car and turned around to head in direction they had come from, the woman looked over at Hes before silently mouthing a brief "thank you" at him. Suddenly, she was struck on the back of her head and turned to face her enraged husband, who gestured to the still screaming baby in her arms.

"Shut her up right now, or _I_ will!" he bellowed sharply as they drove away.

Hes shook his head in confusion at the man's rude behavior towards him. ' _What a jerk!_ ' he immediately thought to himself.

All of sudden, he "cell phone" started to go off. Hes immediately took it out and flipped the receiver open.

"Hello? Qui-Gon? Anyone there? Hello?" he answered.

Yet surprisingly, no one on the other end responded. For a tiny moment, there was only silence. And then, a beeping sound promptly emanated from the device. Hes looked down at the display screen and saw a name and number that was completely unknown to him appear in thick black lettering upon it.

"What the-"

Suddenly, Hes could clearly hear a very familiar sound radiating from far off in the distance. A noise that seemed to be strongly utilizing the power of the Force in order to call out for help.

" _WAAAAAAAHHH‼ WAAAH! WAAAH-_ "

The infant's cries were far away, but through the Force they were as loud and crystal clear as if only a few feet off from where Starrgazer now stood.

Hes replaced the device back into his coat pocket and zoomed off towards the sound of the cries as thick storm-clouds overhead began to very slowly release their contents and minuscule water droplets started to fall to the ground in all directions for miles. As he got closer and closer to the noise of the pained wailing and screaming, the rains gradually fell more and harder with each second. When he reached the location of where the cries originated from, the ground was almost completely saturated in water.

Then, just up ahead of him on the deserted side-road that he was now on, Hes saw a blanket-wrapped bundle lying on the ground a few yards away. All of a sudden, as lightning split the heavens apart, he sensed that sometime was about to happen and the Padawan instantly flew forward and snatched the small bundle off the ground as a bolt of lightning came down, striking the terrain in the exact spot where the baby had been laying.

Reaching up at the sky with his fingers outstretched, Hes used his powers to negate the storm and the rain abruptly ceased as the lightning halted with all the storm-clouds dispersing completely from the nighttime atmosphere a moment later. Looking down at the crying infant now in his arms, Hes removed all the liquid from the rain-soaked blanket including his own clothes, as well as any water that had drenched the baby so that he wouldn't catch a cold or get sick. The Padawan immediately noticed a lightning-shaped scar above his right eyebrow.

As the infant continued to bawl his little eyes out, Starrgazer gently began rocking him back and forth in his arms to calm him down. "Hey, it's all right. You'll be okay. Shhh. Shhh. It's okay."

While Hes rocked the little one in his arms, he sensed something truly special about him. This particular child was incredibly strong in the Force. Even more so than the Padawan had initially perceived. Suddenly, his hand felt something rectangular-shaped just underneath the blanket, and he extracted what appeared to be an unopened envelope with a red-wax seal on the back. But as soon as he touched it, Hes found himself standing in front of a house with a glowing lamppost nearby. A corner street-sign read " _Privet Drive_ " on it. A moment later, the Padawan heard someone approaching, and he slipped towards the shadows.

An old man with a long white beard and glasses casually walked down the street towards the lamppost, and Hes ducked back further away from the light. But as he did so, the light abruptly surged brightly and went out with a loud pop as the glass lamp exploded, causing the old man to halt in his tracks.

"Huh. How very curious," he mumbled to himself.

As the Padawan turned back to watch him, the old man removed a stick from his robes and flicked it at the now broken lamppost, which suddenly began to repair itself until it was fully back to normal. Hes then heard what sounded like a cat meow, and the old man looked down at the ground near him.

"I should have known that you would be here… Professor McGonagall," he addressed the cat, who to Hes' great surprise promptly transformed into a female human who dawned robes similar to his own.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore," she replied, approaching him as they walked side by side towards the house. "Are the rumors true, Albus?"

The old man nodded to her. "I'm afraid so, Professor. The good…and the bad."

"And the boy?" asked the woman, glancing at him.

"Hagrid is bringing him," the old man replied to her.

As they continued to talk, Hes suddenly heard a noise and looked up to see a huge motorcycle glide down safely to the street and stop near the two elders. A very large man, who appeared to be carrying a bundle inside of sling across his chest, dismounted the bike and greeted the two of them, before handing over the bundle to the old man. As they approached the front door of the house that was labeled " _4 Privet Drive_ ", the old man softly laid the bundle down onto the front step. He then took out an envelope from inside his robes and placed on top of the bundle.

"Good luck… Harry Potter," he said to the sleeping child who was resting peacefully within the blanket.

Suddenly, the three of them turned around to see if anyone was there as they all heard a twig snap.

Hes looked down at where he had planted his foot. "Shit!" he cursed sharply himself in a hushed whisper, which was apparently just loud enough to be heard.

"Hello? Who is it? Who's there?" the old man asked a bit louder than a whisper. "Show yourself!"

"Crap!" the Padawan cursed himself once more, this time quietly enough so as not to be heard.

The elder woman gently placed her hand on the old man's arm. "Albus, please. You'll wake the boy up," she stated firmly.

The old man nodded to her in agreement. And as the large man got back on the motorcycle, starting up it's engine and then taking off into the night sky, the two elderly people suddenly vanished into thin air directly in front of Hes.

Just then, the front door of the house opened up and a woman with an abnormally long neck looked down at her feet, promptly screaming for her husband, thus causing the baby to wake up and start screaming.

"Vernon! Vernon come down here quick!" she shrieked.

"Oh! What- what in the blood hell is wrong, Petunia?" a rather fat man asked his wife as he descended groggily down a flight of stairs.

The man's wife pointed to the front step. "Look!"

"What the devil!?" the man asked in utter disgust the moment he saw the baby at their feet who was still crying and screaming.

"Please, dear! Get this wretched filth away from here… immediately!" his wife pleaded with him.

The man graciously complied with her request, and put the wailing baby into his car to drive somewhere secluded and then abandon it.

A moment later, Hes snapped out of his vision. Or at least… what he assumed was a vision. The Padawan found himself still holding the baby in his arms, thankful that he hadn't dropped him. As he continued to rock the baby gently in his arms to calm him down, Hes could suddenly make out a small child's voice through the Force, calling for someone's name in great despair, and after a minute, the Padawan surmised that it was in fact the baby who was mentally calling out to someone that he knew.

" _SIRIUS!_ "

* * *

Author's Note: Once again, I won't be posting anything on the site for the next several months. But I will continue to write nonetheless, even if it's slow-going rate of pace. Anyway, please review the current story material and post any comments and thoughts below in the ' _Post Review_ ' section. Let me know whether you all like or dislike this fanfiction thus-far.


	14. Ch 13 - Prison Break

Author's Note: Three chapters are now fully completed. And yes, I know that I specifically stated that I was going to wait until there were a substantial number of fully-written chapters available to be posted back to back. Unfortunately, my PC has been having problems lately, some even a few times with the "blue-screen of death" occurring. So, I honestly don't know how much longer this computer will keep working. Hopefully I can get a temporary replacement at some point soon in the near future, before this one goes kaput.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 **Prison Break**

The moment that Hes heard the infant mentally yell out the unusual-sounding name, a bright flash of white light blinded his eyes momentarily before his sight immediately readjusted and the Padawan suddenly found himself standing on a small rocky island with a gigantic triangular-shaped stone structure built upon it way out in the middle of the ocean. Lightning flashed none-stop across a dark cloud-filled sky and savagely churning waves pummeled the fortress from each and every angle.

As the Padawan looked around at where he was, the waves from the ocean crashed violently up against the rocks, completely drenching him in the process. Hes coughed and spit out the salty water from inside him, as he wasn't prepared for that to happen just now. Using the Force, he immediately put an invisible shield barrier around himself to block any further inbound waves from hitting him. Afterwards, the boy used his powers to fully remove any trace of water from his clothes. He hoped that none of this was effecting his body in the physical plain, as he knew that he was still holding the small Potter boy in his arms… unless this wasn't a vision that he was having at all.

Suddenly, another flash of brilliant light momentarily blinded him, and Hes found that he was standing within the great hallways of the massive structure. Looking all around him, the boy saw row after row of small prison cells on either side of him. He could feel it. The power and the presence of the Dark Side of the Force was indeed strong here.

Slowly and cautiously, the Padawan Learner made his way through the halls of the complex, before promptly coming across one jail cell in particular. Walking over to it, Hes looked inside and saw a man with long curly black hair, a thin beard and mustache, huddled closely up against a barred window.

" _SIRIUS! HELP ME!_ "

The infant's mental voice loudly pleaded once again through the Force as before and the man sat upright instantly, looking all around in utter confusion at where the sounds were coming from. Hes noticed that he seemed to be directly responding to the little one's desperate outcries.

All of a sudden, Hes was once again momentarily blinded by a white flash of light, and he mysteriously found himself standing no more than a few yards away from the Queen's royal starship, wondering just how he could possibly have ended up back there as he briefly eyed his immediate surroundings. Glancing downwards, the Padawan exhaled a huge sigh of relief as he could see that baby Harry was still firmly cradled in his arms, who in turn was drowsily rubbing one of his eyes with a tiny clenched fist, and appeared to be slowly falling asleep as a result of him crying.

A minute or so passed before Hes gradually walked up the ramp of the ship, and went directly into the cargo hold where Anakin and Kitster were both fiercely engaged in a game of holochess, even though they weren't very good at it, due to the fact that it was their first time playing.

Obi-Wan looked up from what he was doing and almost instantly noticed the bundle in Hes' arms. "By the Force! What happened out there?"

The boy raised a finger to his lips, signaling for Obi-Wan to tone it down a bit in regards to the baby finally going to sleep. He was also just about to explain everything, when Qui-Gon and Shmi both came into the cargo hold from another part of the ship. Shmi promptly took notice of the slumbering infant resting in the Padawan's arms, and strode over to the two of them.

"What happened? Where did this baby come from?" she asked gently.

"I found him abandoned on a roadside several miles away from here," Hes stated softly without hesitating. "That's not all. I now truly believe the reason why I discovered him all alone like this was for the same reason as to why the Force led us all the way out here to Earth in the first place. I clearly have no doubt that the Force _itself_ intended for us to rescue him."

Qui-Gon looked at the young boy, slightly bewildered after observing the baby in his arms. "Why?"

Hes began to explain that he'd been having visions recently about seeing a baby that was in grave peril and needing help. The boy also said that each of the few visions that he'd experienced were _almost_ identical to one another every time.

After the young Padawan finished, he offered for Shmi to take the infant into her arms while Hes took a lift down to the now empty droid hold, and used his powers to convert the space into a temporary nursery for the baby Potter to stay in until they reached Coruscant. Once that was done, he then went to inform everyone on-board the ship, including the Queen since she was now awake and wondering why they weren't at their intended destination yet, of the entire situation as well as the reason why they had landed on a primitively foreign world. And although both Captain Panaka and the Queen did not approve of the continual delays, as well as Panaka strongly objecting to bringing a baby aboard the ship, the Padawan assured them that everything would be well in hand.

Walking back into the cargo hold, Hes asked Obi-Wan how much longer the repairs would take before the hyperdrive was once again fully operational, as the Queen was growing impatient.

"I should say about thirty to forty-five minutes tops," Qui-Gon's apprentice surmised.

Hes nodded in response. "I'm going out again. There's something I need to look into. Won't take long, hopefully."

Obi-Wan looked up in surprise. "Again? You only just now returned. What if the repairs to the hyperdrive are completed well before you get back?" he asked.

The boy glanced over at him momentarily before turning to exit the ship once more. "Then go without me," Hes insisted.

As Hes exited the ship, he walked along a narrow pathway for a little while before shooting off into the atmosphere and then jetting in the immediate direction of the ocean at just above hypersonic speed, fully allowing the Force to guide where he needed to go.

The storm-cell over the island was quite enormous and _insanely_ powerful as the young Padawan flew towards the black stone structure that rested atop it. To him, it looked a bit like an ancient larger-scale version of the Citadel on the planet of Lola Sayu, a prison that was constructed centuries ago to hold captured rogue Jedi, that Hes had read about in his studies at the Temple.

Upon reaching the structure, Hes suddenly noticed the place was surrounded by a large number of floating beings with long torn black robes and large hoods over their heads, which completely silhouetted their faces. They also had long black bony hands that sported spindly-looking fingers. As the Padawan slowly approached, he immediately went into stealth mode, using both his powers as well as Force Cloak to totally mask his presence from them.

As Starrgazer made his way to the very top of the structure, he steadily floated towards an opening in the roof, and gently lowered himself down into the bowels of the giant edifice. He cautiously moved through each level one after another until he found the correct cell block he was searching for. Hes then walked through the hallway with long strides until he came to the same exact prison cell that he had seen in his vision.

The man whom Hes had seen previously was closely huddled up against the barred-up window just like before. As the Padawan made a slim gesture with his hand, the cell door instantly unlocked and opened up, causing the man to push back against the corner of the wall in complete fear upon seeing no one immediately behind the door as it slowly opened without so much as a tiny metallic squeaking noise.

"Are you the one known as _Sirius_?" Hes asked as he moved into the shadows of the cell.

"Who's there!? Who are you!? What do you want!?" the man responded frantically.

Hes slowly moved into whatever little amount of light that shown through the barred window, and the man looked up in absolute astonishment to see a young boy standing nearby.

"Are you Sirius?" asked the Padawan for a second time.

The man nodded in response to the question, still quite baffled at the sight before him and wondering why this boy was even here at all. "Sirius. Sirius Black."

"My name is Joshua Varner. I'm getting you out of here," Hes declared softly. "There's someone who apparently needs you rather desperately right now."

" _SIRIUS, PLEASE! HELP_ _!_ "

Both individuals went silent almost immediately as they distinctly heard the child's voice loud and clear through the Force once again.

Hes glanced down slowly at Sirius as he in turn looked up at the young lad in absolute confusion. "You can hear him, can't you?" the boy questioned. "I can too."

Just then, they both heard noises coming from the far end of the cell block. Sirius re-positioned himself up against the barred-up window as before, while Hes used Force Cloak to hide himself within the shadows of the cell and silently closed and re-locked the door to it as one of those black robed creatures slowly and creepily approached them.

The creature floated over to the cell door and peered inside, as if looking for something… or rather _someone_ out of place. But all it could see was Sirius huddled against the barred window, blankly staring out at the extensively robust thunderstorm outside. Slowly, and suspiciously, it moved on to continue traversing the many corridors and hallways within the giant establishment.

As Hes stepped out from the shadows, Sirius immediately got to his feet.

"How are we going to get out of here?" he asked almost in a whisper. "Those bloody Dementors are everywhere. They're always watching everything that goes on here in this Godforsaken place."

Suddenly, a thick mantle of greyish-white fog started rolling in through the window of the prison cell as it steadily spread across the whole island, and Hes glanced over at Sirius who looked very bewildered at what was happening. The Padawan then crossed over to the barred-up window, and as he placed his hand on the wall beside it, the entire wall around the bars began to crack and then crumble to pieces. As the metal bars fell away, the hole slowly became large enough for an adult-sized person to go through as the wall continued to collapse until finally it stopped altogether.

"How did you do that?" Sirius asked curiously in a hushed tone. "Are you a Wizard…like me? Do you know Magic?"

Hes laughed silently at the question. "Not exactly," he answered quietly. "I'll tell you about that later. Right now, we need to move."

"But where are we going?" Sirius asked half-impatiently in a slightly higher tone without thinking. "What precisely is going on here? And who's voice was that?"

As Hes slowly stepped through the opening in the wall, he promptly and rather surprisingly found his footing to be well on solid ground, instead of there being a sudden several thousand-foot drop-off into the freezing ocean waves directly below, as he had expected there to be even though he was quite capable of flying. He then immediately turned around to look straight at Sirius, who appeared even more perplexed than ever.

"Patience. Your questions will be answered soon," the boy replied, signaling with a jerking motion of his head for Sirius to step through the opening and follow him.

Slowly and hesitantly, the man stepped through the opening in the prison wall. He then cautiously followed as Hes led him through the fog-cloud a very short distance before coming out of it and mysteriously finding himself in the middle of a wooded area, several yards away from a massive pond.

Hes turned to look at Sirius again. "Our destination's not far off. Come on, this way," he stated as he gestured towards a stand of trees on the opposite side of the pond.

Sirius followed him to the pond's edge, and as he watched, Hes raised a hand towards the water. The ground suddenly began to softly quake underneath their feet as a long stretch of dried sediment and rock came up from beneath the waterline, creating a narrow bridge-like path for the two of them to walk across.

As they carefully made their way along the path, Hes all of a sudden jerked his upper body backwards slightly and dodged a wooden stick that unexpectedly flew directly at his face while promptly snatching it out of the air with his right hand. Sirius took notice of what had just occurred and immediately recognized the object that was now clutched in the boy's fist.

"Hey, that's my wand," he exclaimed in total stunned bemusement.

Hes looked down at the object resting in his palm. "Oh, really? Huh. I hadn't noticed," the Padawan expressed as he tossed it to Sirius, who caught it. "It nearly jabbed me in the face."

"How did it just seemingly fly all the way out here by itself?" Sirius asked, still shocked as he looked strangely at the object. "Did you…"

The Padawan shook his head as he gave a confused look. "I merely sensed that something was coming at me, and I instinctively dodged out of the way of this thing before it whacked me upside the head. I didn't summon it here with the Force or anything."

Sirius immediately shook his head with great dubiety at hearing the last part of the boy's sentience. " _The what?_ "

Hes rolled his eyes as he let out a heavy sigh of exasperation. "I'll explain later," he promised.

After they crossed to the other side of the pond, Starrgazer pointed over toward the trees up ahead on the far right. "Just over there, beyond those trees."

Walking along a little further, Hes suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He could feel something very dark and cold through the Force nearby. It wasn't anything that should even be here.

Sirius came up beside him and saw a look of worry in his eyes as the Padawan glanced at him. "What's wrong?" he asked the young boy.

"Come on! Hurry!" exclaimed Hes in a frantic tone of voice. He immediately sprinted forward in a blur of motion with Sirius following behind at a growing rate of distance, as the boy was way too fast for him to keep up with. Black ran until he could just make out the shape of something large and metallic through the treeline. Moving closer, before finally passing by the last few bushes and shrubs that blocked the object from view, he froze dead in his tracks and gaped at what he saw right in front of him.

As he continued to stare in disbelief at the spacecraft, Hes surveyed the immediate vicinity and used the Force to sense if there was either anything unusual, or a sign of hostile threats in the area, due to the fact that he could feel something very dark and vengeful close by. Yet he just couldn't zero in on what exactly it was.

Turning to look at Sirius, the Padawan noticed that the man was staring completely slack-jawed at the Queen's royal ship. Walking over to him slowly, Hes cleared his throat as Sirius turned his immediate gaze in the boy's direction.

"I can tell what you're thinking, and no. I'm not an extra-terrestrial or anything of that sort. Although, there is one such being inside the ship. But don't worry," Hes remarked assuredly, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder. Moving towards the ramp, the boy turned around momentary to face Black once more. "Wait here. I'll be back."

Sirius nodded in response and as Hes walked up the ramp, he motioned steadily all around the outside of the ship, gazing in sheer awe at the size and shape of the vessel while carefully studying it's many features.

Walking through the cargo hold towards the lift that went down into the temporary nursery, Hes could feel something slightly off in the Force. Suddenly, he clearly heard the sound of a sharp panicked cry coming from below, followed immediately by massive wailing screams. Darting forward, the Padawan dove through the lift door, passed the tube, and somersaulted once before landing on his feet in the nursery, all without causing any type of damage to the ship, as though the solid barriers in between both rooms were simply comprised of nothing but air molecules.

The infant Harry was screeching loudly in discomfort while Padmé held him out slightly at arm's length away from her, acting very strangely as though she was somehow fearful of him. Little Anakin meanwhile sat huddled in the corner up against a wall, appearing rather terrified.

Rushing over, Hes quickly snatched the baby up from the handmaiden's visibly shaky grasp. "What is the matter with you two!?" he asked bitterly. "He's just a baby! He won't hurt you!"

The handmaiden looked up at the tween from where she sat on the floor, her knees and lower legs resting firmly together underneath her, with a disturbed expression on her face. "Something weird happened to him just now. He…changed," she explained shakily.

Hes glanced oddly at her for a moment. "What are you talking about?" he asked, before looking down at the still wailing baby. Rocking him back and forth, Hes began softly humming to him while at the same time using a meditation technique in order to calm the little one down. After a bit, Harry's intense bawling started to decline until it finally trickled to only mild sobs, which then turned into small hiccups.

As Padmé and Anakin both got up from where they were sitting and cautiously approached, the Padawan turned his gaze towards them. "See? There's nothing about him to be afraid of," he voiced.

Suddenly, the baby's hair and eye colors momentarily shifted, with little Harry's irides changing from bright green to a warm brown, and his hair turning deep brown from it's normal jet-black color, before returning to their regular state. The two youths present both let out a tiny shriek of fright and jumped back upon witnessing the brief metamorphosis. Hes gave a look of utter surprise and confusion when he saw what had just occurred.

"Ah, okay? Hmm…"

Padmé gestured wildly at the baby. "Did you see that? Things like that don't just happen! What is wrong with him!?" she cried frantically.

"I don't know," replied Hes, shaking his head. "I've seen a lot of strange things in the past before, apart from what I'm able to do, but this is something different. Still, it's nothing to completely freak-out over!"

Anakin and Padmé both immediately felt kinda bad about overreacting to the situation just now. All of a sudden, Shmi, Qui-Gon and Kitster all came down the lift in a nervous state.

"Are you both okay? What happened?" asked Shmi in a frantic voice.

Hes turned to look at them as they entered. "They're fine. Something just happened with the baby is all. But they're okay," he answered.

"He said something too," little Anakin remarked in a quivering voice as he looked up at them.

The Padawan glanced down at the little boy in confusion. "What?"

Padmé stepped forward, the expression on her face appearing just as uneasy as Anakin's. "The baby said something…to both of us," she replied hesitantly.

Hes stared at the two for a brief moment before speaking. "Well? What was it?"

The two youngsters looked directly at each other rather nervously, before turning their gaze back toward Hes.

"What did he say?" asked Hes, becoming somewhat irritated.

Padmé slowly opened her mouth to answer. "He- He- He said…"

She tried so very hard to find the right things to say in order to respond to the question, but the harder she tried, the more difficult it became for her to utter even a single word. And after opening and closing her mouth a few more times, Padmé simply gave up altogether.

Finally frustrated with her not answering the question, Hes looked to Anakin for an explanation, but it was quite clear that all he was gonna give was a silent stare of absolute shock and bemusement at the whole situation.

The young Padawan sighed heavily with disappointment. "Fine. Whatever."

As he turned around to take the lift up to the cargo hold, Qui-Gon and Shmi both confronted the two youngsters.

"Hey!" Shmi shouted a bit harshly in a sharp tone, causing Anakin and Padmé to snap back to reality. "What's the matter with you two? Why wouldn't either of you answer him?"

Upon reaching the cargo hold level, Hes stepped out of the lift with little baby Harry firmly cradled in his arms as he walked with long heavy strides towards the on-ramp. He then suddenly halted in his tracks and glanced back at the lift as he clearly could hear a shout coming from below in the nursery by Kitster, Shmi and Qui-Gon simultaneously which was loud enough that even Obi-Wan himself looked up momentarily from what he was doing.

" _WHAT?!_ "


	15. Ch 14 - Hasty Retreat

Author's Note: This next chapter is now up and ready to view. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **Hasty Retreat**

Hes slowly walked down the ramp with little Harry resting comfortably in his arms just as Sirius Black turned to look in their direction. As the man hastily strode over to them with an air of complete perplexity upon seeing the familiar baby and wondering exactly why this young boy had the infant Potter with him in the first place, the little one's eyes slowly opened.

"Harry!" exclaimed Sirius in a joyous tone.

The baby looked up at Sirius with much glee. "Padfoot!"

Hes glanced at Sirius rather oddly upon hearing the infant say that, and Black nodded his head understandably. "I'll explain to you why he called me that, but later."

The Padawan nodded in reply just as Qui-Gon came walking briskly down the ramp of the ship. "The repairs to the hyperdrive are finished. We're about ready to leave," he stated.

"And just in time," said Hes, glancing over his shoulder at the Jedi Master.

Qui-Gon nodded at the boy, and was about to turn around and go back up the ramp into the ship, when he noticed Sirius standing nearby. "Who is that, Hes?" he asked, pointing to Black.

Hes looked at Sirius momentarily before turning to face Qui-Gon directly. "This is Sirius Black, Master." He then turned back around in the other direction slightly in order to look from side to side between both men. "Oh, and Sirius, meet Qui-Gon Jinn. He's sort of my mentor in one sense, but not quite."

Both men walked up to each other and shook hands, before Sirius looked at the Jedi Master curiously. "Why did you call him… Hes, I think you said?" he questioned.

Qui-Gon nodded in response. "Hescand Starrgazer is his given name. There's only a select few who know of his real identity, that being Joshua Varner," he stated.

That sentence alone suddenly got Hes thinking. "Speaking of which, we're gonna have to give the baby a whole new identity if he's ever to be seen outside of the Jedi Temple by the general public, on Coruscant or elsewhere. Especially since a name like Harry Potter is totally nonexistent out there among the stars. That's one of the reasons why I had to change my name to begin with. Because, let's face it, who among the many different life-forms, including humans, in the galaxy's vast history has ever once come across such names as Harry Potter or Joshua Varner before, apart from the humans that reside here on Earth?"

"Honestly…no one," remarked Qui-Gon.

Hes firmly nodded his head in agreement. "Exactly."

The Jedi Master then turned his head and looked at Sirius once more. "So, who are you, precisely?" he asked curiously.

"I'm Harry's godfather, actually," Black replied instantly. "Both of his parents, James and Lily, were recently murdered by the Dark Lord, and…"

"You mean… murdered by the Sith? That can't be!" exclaimed Qui-Gon in amazement.

Sirius immediately had a look of utter confusion on his face. "I'm sorry. The what now?"

Hes promptly stepped forward. "No, I don't think that it was the Sith who were responsible, Qui-Gon. And as I told you before, Sirius, I'll explain everything to you in due time, but we're leaving this place very shortly, so please… get aboard."

Black sighed and then nodded. Knowing this was probably the only way for him to remain with his godson, as well as the fact that he was now viewed as an escaped prisoner, he slowly and cautiously made his way up the boarding ramp of the ship, uncertain of what awaited at the top with Qui-Gon gently guiding him onward.

Slowly, Hes turned to follow them both into the ship, but suddenly stopped where he was, as he sensed the exact same cold, dark presence that he felt earlier. Only it was much stronger, and even closer this time. Glancing around at his surroundings carefully, the Padawan used his powers to illuminate the environment with his eyes. As he scanned the wooded area for anything out of the ordinary, he immediately noticed something on his left.

Just beyond some nearby trees, were a pair of menacing and dimly illuminated yellow and red eyes glaring most abhorrently at him.

As the young Padawan Learner cautiously turned around to go back into the ship with the baby, he suddenly heard a familiar hum and saw the glow of a shaft of red light that was barely reflecting off the silvery metal surface of the Queen's royal ship. Spinning wildly on his heels, Hes reached out and used the Force to catch the tip of the lightsaber blade with the outstretched palm of his hand as it quickly came down on both him and little Harry, barely holding it at bay for as long as possible.

Just then, the green shaft of Qui-Gon's lightsaber blade came out of nowhere and shoved the blade of the red lightsaber away from Hes and the baby as the Jedi Master offensively engaged the dark warrior head on. As Starrgazer turned around and bolted into the ship, the Jedi Master mentally told him to instruct the pilot to take off immediately, similarly to what he'd done on Tatooine with Anakin.

As the two warriors battled each other for the second time, except with Qui-Gon now being on the offensive instead of on the defensive, Hes promptly went up into the cockpit without first going down into the nursery to secure the baby as he had initially planned.

"We need to leave now!" the boy hastily exclaimed. "That thing is back!"

"What thing?" Panaka asked as he turned around in his seat to look at Starrgazer.

"The same thing that attacked Qui-Gon back on Tatooine moments before we left. It somehow followed us here," answered Hes.

Panaka angrily jumped up from his seat upon hearing this. "What!?"

Little Harry suddenly started to cry from hearing the captain's harsh and raised tone of voice.

Hes immediately glared at Panaka for doing that. "Now look what you did!"

Meanwhile, outside Qui-Gon continued to press his attack, slowly forcing Darth Maul back inch by inch even though the Jedi was steadily beginning to wane. Yet he wasn't tiring out nearly as quickly as he had during his first encounter on Tatooine with the fierce and threatening Zabrak. And as the brightly glowing red and green blades of light clashed over and over in the dark with each other, and the two fighters equally matched for the brief moment in the duel, Amidala's royal yacht rose up from the forest floor seconds after the engines roared to life. As red blade of the Sith warrior's lightsaber swung high and wide, Qui-Gon ducked and dodged out of way of the strike as the crimson glow of the blade came into direct contact with a large tree trunk, cutting it completely in half.

As the ship floated closer towards the two duelists, Qui-Gon momentarily glimpsed a flash of something which appeared to be located underneath the ramp. And as he looked up, the tree which had been chopped down started to tilt and fall towards the vessel, threatening to smash on top of it's front, thereby causing the Naboo yacht to crash. Locking blades with his opponent one final time, the Jedi Master reached out with the Force and pulled the falling trunk over towards the two of them, and then briskly dodged out of it's way, before jumping onto the ramp of the ship as the tree crashed to the ground, seemingly crushing the Sith apprentice in the process. Or so Qui-Gon had thought. And right before he landed on the boarding ramp, the Jedi reached out and snatched something with the Force that was attached directly to the underside of the ramp as the ship flew away into the sky. It was what Qui-Gon had fleetingly noticed to be the cause of the small flash moments earlier.

Deactivating his weapon, Qui-Gon went directly into the cargo hold where Obi-Wan, Hes, Shmi and the others in their small group were waiting for him, apart from the Naboo occupants.

"Master, are you alright," asked Obi-Wan.

The Jedi Master nodded his head assuredly that everything was fine. "I found this attached to the underside of the ramp," he said, as he lightly tossed the object to his apprentice who swiftly caught it. "It must have somehow been put there right at the exact moment when we departed from Tatooine. I think that the same individual who attacked me there used this to track the Queen's location and follow her here to this planet also."

Upon hearing this, everyone except for Hes looked up at him with utter shock and disbelief. Suddenly, they all felt a very minute lurch of the vessel as Hes promptly sensed that the ship had briefly hit something as it rapidly sped away from the planet's atmosphere and out into space. Then the Padawan heard a number of tiny electronic beeps emanating from space just as the boy could "see" the source of where those sounds were in fact coming from through the Force, and he immediately let a heavy sigh of exasperation leave him just as his head drooped, realizing too late of what they had forgotten to do upon leaving.

"Oh, great! So much for keeping a low profile."

Shmi glanced over at the boy a bit worriedly. "Hes? Are you all right? What's wrong?" she asked.

Hes slowly raised his head up and glanced over at the two other Jedi there, who briefly eyed each other with the same exact thought of concern, before looking back in his direction just as the boy immediately voiced what the three of them were now all surmising.

"I think we just got noticed."


	16. Ch 15 - Rough Landings

Author's Note: New chapter is fully up and ready to view. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **Rough Landings**

As the royal Naboo yacht came out of hyperspace, a flashing display indicator on one of the control-panels inside the cockpit alerted to the pilot soon after that the hyperdrive was once again having problems and was very much in need of immediate repairs. Several minutes later, the indicator began spiking red just as a warning alarm promptly sounded on the panel while the vessel flew over the city planet's atmosphere before violently and rather suddenly descending down into the ever shifting hustle and bustle of constantly flowing traffic that was Coruscant.

"Hyperdrive's down again," Olié expressed as he pushed a button on a comm panel, activating it. "Everyone, hold on tight. This might get a tad brutal."

Down below in the temporary nursery, moments before the ship came out of light-speed, Hes used his powers to reconvert the space back into a droid hold once more as it originally was, shortly after both Shmi and Padmé quickly got everything that was needed together into a diaper bag for the baby Potter, and then afterwards Starrgazer cleared everything else away.

Prior to all of that, while they were _finally_ en-route to Coruscant directly from Earth this time nonstop, the three Jedi ever so slowly began explaining to Sirius Black the very basics of what the Force was and how it was utilized, with Hes who was once again sporting his Jedi robes, mainly leading the conversation on, as well as him explaining to Sirius everything which had transpired concerning Harry and why the Padawan had taken the little one with him. They also told Black where they were going, who the Jedi were in the galaxy and what the Jedi Order did, what the Galactic Republic was including some things about the Senate, and various other things.

Black immediately became furious during the part of their talk when he learned of the fact that Harry's relatives had just decidedly dumped him on the side of a road as though he were nothing more than a heap of garbage to them, and seemingly left him out there to die of exposure. Yet Sirius was most grateful to Hes for saving the baby when he did so.

As the ship both dodged and weaved throughout the heavy traffic-lanes, trying desperately not to collide with or ram into anything or anybody, Olié and the other crew members in the cockpit frantically scanned the area for a clear landing platform to set the ship down on immediately.

In the cargo hold, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Hes all sensed that the vessel was in major trouble mere seconds after they heard the pilot's voice over the intercom. All three promptly stared at one another for a brief instant and knew what they had to do. Immediately reaching out with the Force, all three of the Jedi focused on keeping the ship both steady and level, while also guiding it to safely land on the nearest unoccupied landing platform available.

Harry meanwhile started to wail his little eyes out in absolute fear as Sirius held him close, trying to comfort him. "Shhh. Shhh. It's okay. We'll be alright, Harry," he softly cooed to his godson. All of a sudden, he could clearly hear that same strange voice calling out to him once again just as before.

" _Sirius, please help me! I'm scared!_ "

Looking down at the sobbing baby cradled in his arms, Black now realized and began to somewhat understand as best he could that it was in fact little Harry who had somehow been mentally communicating with and calling out to him the entire time. He firmly but very gently held the baby to his chest, while softly rubbing his back as well as humming a soothing tune into his godson's ear to further calm the infant down.

As the three Jedi continued to keep the ship stable, Shmi held both Anakin and Kitster close to her tightly as Anakin looked up at her with wide pleading eyes.

" _Mom?_ " he whimpered faintly.

"It'll be okay, sweetie. It's okay," his mother gently whispered in a consoling tone in order to keep him calm.

Kitster himself wasn't looking any better off than his friend at that moment, as he glanced around at everybody else there with large and nervous eyes.

In the throne room, the Queen sat with her hands firming grasping onto the armrests of her chair, while her handmaidens all knelt down close to the floor on either side of her, everyone in the room bracing for the ship's inevitable impact landing which they were all sure was to come.

Back up in the cockpit, the pilot Olié could faintly make out a voice in his head that was instructing him where to go as Captain Panaka suddenly spotted what they were looking for roughly a short distance away from the ship's position.

"Look, there!" the captain lightly shouted, pointing directly to a platform just up ahead on their right.

Nodding to the captain in reply, Olié steered the vessel over towards the platform, lining it up in preparation for the landing cycle. But just as the nose of the ship reached the edge of the platform, it all of a sudden tipped slightly downwards and the yacht glided freely as both of it's engines promptly cut out.

Upon sensing that the engines had stopped, Hes quickly combined the use of both his superpowers and the Force in order to protect everyone else on-board just as the ship's underside slammed down onto the landing and skidded for several meters before finally coming to rest some distance away from the opposite end of the platform.

"Is everyone okay?" the Padawan asked half-loudly after slowly rising to his feet. He could see a number of broken cables, wires, and power-lines that were loosely dangling from the now partially damaged ceiling of the vessel. Cargo cases as well as other on-board containers were randomly strewn all over the ship.

Quickly glancing around, Hes promptly heard the wailing cries of the Potter baby nearby. Turning towards the noise, he saw Sirius lying on his back with little Harry held firmly in his grasp on top of him. Rushing over, the boy checked to see whether or not they were hurt, and found to his great relief that both of them were unharmed. After steadily helping Black to his feet and then gently prompting him to sit down in the chair nearby, Hes momentarily looked them both over for any marks, bruises, or other forms of bodily harm in order to be absolutely certain that they were both well and good. Finding nothing, he moved on to Shmi, Anakin, and Kitster. And upon noticing a few marks on them as a result of the harsh landing just moments ago, the boy used his abilities to patch the three of them up stat. He continued this process with each and everyone else on-board, including Queen Amidala herself upon her giving him permission to examine her very briefly for any injuries, and was glad to see that she was also unharmed. Even though she, like everybody else on the ship, had gotten thrown onto the floor off her feet when the yacht came into contact with the landing platform.

Moments later, the three Jedi sensed that both Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum and his personal body guards, along with Senator Sheev Palpatine, were rapidly speeding towards the landing platform in the Chancellor's private shuttle transport, while being accompanied by several medical-type ships in order for them to give immediate aid to anyone who might have been injured in the crash.

Walking over to the boarding ramp's control-panel, Hes tried the switch, but nothing happened apart from an electronic beep. Upon that not seeming to work, the Padawan raised his hand towards the ramp, and used the Force to lower it down. But instead of fully extending itself to open-up all the way, the boarding ramp only lowered partway as it made contact with the platform floor below.

As the two other Jedi approached from behind, Starrgazer nodded to them and the three ignited their lightsabers and began cutting out a large-enough opening in the ship for everyone to exit the vessel as quickly as possible, due to the sudden appearance of smoke which was slowly building up and spreading throughout the entire yacht.

Outside on the platform, all of the arriving transports surrounded the landing before immediately docking with it on multiple sides. While both the Senator and the Supreme Chancellor disembarked the shuttle, along with Valorum's body guards, all the medical personnel exited their own ships and quickly rushed towards the Naboo craft. And upon reaching the opposite side of the now damaged vessel, they suddenly jumped back a few steps before narrowly getting crushed by a huge piece of flying debris, which was in fact a section of the ship's hull that the Jedi had carved out with their lightsabers in order to create an opening so that everyone could evacuate the ship.

Hes immediately looked over and saw the medical officers upon deactivating his lightsaber and placing it on his hip, realizing suddenly of the Jedi's almost near disastrous blunder.

"Oops! Sorry about that!" he exclaimed apologetically to them. "We didn't hit anyone, did we?"

The medical officers all shook their heads and the Padawan exhaled a sigh of relief. Turning his head to look behind him, Hes whistled sharply to get everybody's immediate attention. "Come on, everybody out! Hurry!" he shouted as the smoke was now rising up to the adult's waist-level and continually growing larger by the moment, effectively causing the small children to start coughing.

Sirius held little baby Harry up onto his shoulder so he would be a bit higher up away from the billowing smoke, while Shmi picked Anakin up and positioned him comfortably on her hip so he could breathe better as Qui-Gon did the same with Kitster.

Just as everyone was evacuating the ship, Anakin looked over his mother's shoulder and called out to the little blue and silver astromech droid. "Artoo, go get Threepio for me," he instructed.

Artoo emitted a couple beeps and chirps in reply as he rolled towards the area where the deactivated protocol droid was being kept. Upon reaching the exact spot, Artoo then turned around and launched a suction cup-like tow cable directly at the protocol droid's chest plate and slowly inched him down flat along the ground, before hauling him over towards the boarding ramp. And as he neared the opening, a spark from one of the broken power cables momentarily flashed, causing a fire to ignite directly in front of the little droid.

Suddenly, Hes appeared from out the smoke as he quickly strode up to the astromech. "Artoo, come on! We need to get out of here!" he exclaimed, picking up See-Threepio and placing him over both of his shoulders so that the boy could easily carry the droid out of the burning vessel.

Outside on the landing platform, the Supreme Chancellor and Senator Palpatine both gradually approached the Queen and her handmaidens, with the Chancellor's body guards standing very close-by as the medical officers tended to the passengers and crew of the ship according to standard medical aid procedures and protocol.

"Your Majesty? Are you all right?" asked Palpatine in a much worried tone.

Amidala looked at him and gave a reassuring nod that she was fine. "Yes, Senator Palpatine. Thank you for your concern," she voiced sincerely.

Palpatine breathed a deep sigh of great relief upon hearing her say that before turning his attention to introducing her face to face with the Chancellor. "Your Majesty, this is Supreme Chancellor Valorum."

"Welcome, Your Highness. I'm glad to see that you are well. And I must say it is quite an honor to meet you in person," Valorum expressed.

The Queen nodded gratefully at him in response. "Thank you, Supreme Chancellor."

As all three of them went about discussing the current matter at hand, concerning the invasion of Naboo and the takeover of Theed, the medical personnel meanwhile continued with their routine examinations of all the off-world passengers who were present and accounted for. And once they had finished, the officers firmly recommended that all of them, particularly the children as well as the infant Harry Potter, be taken to a medical healthcare facility straightaway in order to have a more thorough wellness check-up done on them just to be safe.

Anakin and Kitster both started to tense up and get very nervous soon after hearing this, as neither of them even knew what to expect was going to happen.

While Shmi and Padmé lightly prodded the two little boys toward the waiting craft, little Anakin fleetingly looked behind him in confusion as Qui-Gon and Hes both turned to glance in his direction at him. Qui-Gon then made a slight gesture with his hand, instructing Anakin to keep on going. And upon all of the passengers boarding the medical ships, with Jar Jar, Anakin, Shmi, and Kitster in one, and Sirius Black with his godson Harry Potter in another, excluding the Naboo passengers and crew from Theed, the Jedi Master then turned to address the Supreme Chancellor directly.

"I must speak with the Jedi Council immediately," he voiced in a most urgent tone. "The situation has just become much more complicated."


	17. Ch 16 - On Coruscant

Author's Note: This chapter is at last up. My apologies if these next ones turn out to be dull and/or boring, since both of them will take place on Coruscant.

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **On Coruscant**

Arriving at one of the numerous medical healthcare facilities that were scattered throughout the city-planet, Shmi, Anakin, Kitster, and the rest of the off-worlders all stepped out of the medical ships, once the pilots had opened-up the passenger doors, before immediately being escorted into the building by the officers.

Anakin and Kitster were both quaking heavily in their boots as they walked quickly, yet quietly down the long hallways of the massive establishment, due in part to the fact that nether of them had ever once been to a hospital or any sort of a healthcare/wellness provider at any point in their young lives. So it would have been quite understandable for both children to be somewhat afraid, if not utterly terrified of going to a medical center for the very first time ever.

Tatooine was basically a virtual wasteland, with zero medical care or aid of any kind available to the inhabitants of the planet who lived there. And the Senate only chose to provide goods and services as well as relief aid to those certain planetary systems who would in turn willingly join with the Galactic Republic, and/or were vastly rich in natural resources that were just ripe for exportation directly to the Core Worlds, thus creating a major monopoly for the Senate's benefit alone, who's members would regularly pocket hefty sums of the revenue for themselves in secret at the expense of the people, leaving each of the outlying systems, apart from the Core Worlds, with slightly greater rates of poverty and economic decline as one traveled further and further out away from the center of the Galactic Republic's capital, until they reached the very edge of the government's territorial boundaries where there was _almost_ nothing of profitable value, before directly crossing over into the Outer Rim Territories where the Republic was completely absent. But fortunately, not all of the Senators were as downright greedy and self-serving as those who were in the larger majority of the ruling political body.

Upon arriving at one of the many large waiting areas after each member of the party gave their names to a receptionist, with Sirius Black producing given names that Hes had created for both him and baby Harry while they were on Coruscant, the whole group was kindly obliged to make themselves comfortable, as it looked to be awhile before each member of their party could be called up one at a time for a thorough medical inspection.

Meanwhile, as the small air speeder that was transporting Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Hes moved ever closer towards the Jedi Temple, Starrgazer remained as motionless as a statue, deeply contemplating to himself all of the many different things that had recently gone on concerning the mission thus-far. More specifically, the two separate incidents that directly involved similar confrontations with the shadowy character that had first attacked Qui-Gon back on Tatooine, and now most recently him on Earth.

"Hes. Hes, we're here!" said Qui-Gon, as he lightly shook the young Padawan Learner out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry, Qui-Gon. I was just thinking about what had recently happened," the boy responded after clearing his mind of his feelings.

The Jedi Master promptly gave him a stern look. "Now, Hes. Remember what I said about keeping your concentration fully on the moment."

"Yes, Master," Hes replied respectfully, nodding in agreement.

As the speeder halted near the farthest most outer set of steps that lead to two massive doors that were several stories in height, which were in turn guarded by two gigantic stone statues that faced outwardly towards the stone walkway, the three Jedi stood up and promptly exited the vehicle, slowly motioning towards the entrance as the speeder took-off again and flew upward towards the sky-lanes.

Unlike other buildings in the vast sprawl of Coruscant, the Jedi Temple stood alone. A colossal multi-level pyramid formation with several grand spires that arose skyward from it's flattop. It sat apart from everything else at the end of a broad promenade, linking it with bulkier sharper-edged towers, in which solitude and meditation were less likely to be found. The Jedi Council room itself dominated a central portion of the complex, perfectly situated within the middle spire that loomed high above all of the others.

The High Council was now in session at this moment, its doors closed, its proceedings hidden from both the eyes and ears of all but fifteen people. Twelve of them, some human, some non-human, comprised the Council. A diverse and seasoned group who had gravitated to the Order from opposite ends of the galaxy. The final three Jedi, who were guests of the Council, were Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Hescand Starrgazer. The seats of the twelve Council members formed a perfect symmetrically-aligned circle, facing inward to where their guests currently stood. As the former related the recent events, the two latter Jedi stood a few paces behind the Master, both listening attentively.

Qui-Gon studied the faces of his listeners as he spoke, each of them familiar to him. Most were Jedi Masters like himself. Among them, Grandmaster Yoda and Jedi Master Mace Windu, seniors in rank amongst those seated. And as the tall broadly-formed and deep-voiced Jedi Master commanded the attention of those gathered around him, his blue eyes fixed upon them each in turn, constantly searching for a reaction to his words.

They watched him carefully. Stately Ki-Adi-Mundi, young and beautiful Adi Gallia, slender Depa Billaba, crusted and marble-faced Even Piell, and all of the others. Each different and unique in appearance. Each with something vital to offer as an esteemed representative of the Jedi High Council.

Qui-Gon brought his eyes back to Mace Windu and Yoda, the ones he needed to convince, the ones who were the most respected and powerful of those who sat before him in judgement.

"He was trained in the Jedi arts," he finished quietly, his story completed. "My only conclusion is that the one who first attacked me on Tatooine, and then Hes later on Earth, is in fact a Sith Lord."

The immediate silence that followed was palpable. There was a stirring of brown robes, a shifting of bodies and limbs. Glances were exchanged, and murmurs of disbelief quickly voiced.

"Impossible," Ki-Adi-Mundi uttered quite clearly, turning his head to look in Yoda's direction. "The Sith have been extinct for a millennium."

As the little green Jedi Master shifted only slightly in his chair, he glanced over at Mace Windu, who solemnly expressed his own doubts on the matter at hand.

"I do not believe the Sith could have returned without us knowing about it," uttered the dark-skinned, bald-headed Jedi with penetrating eyes, looking down to his right at the Grandmaster. He was a strongly-built man, and smooth-faced despite his years.

"Ah. Hard to see, the Dark Side is," remarked Yoda with a small snort as he glanced toward his left, back at Windu. His eyes then promptly turned to slits, like a contented Corellian sand panther's, his winkled face turned towards Qui-Gon's thoughtfully. "Threatened the Republic is, if indeed the Sith are involved," he observed in his soft gravely voice.

The others began to mutter anew among themselves. Qui-Gon said nothing, waiting them out. They had believed the Sith to be destroyed. They had believed their mortal enemies to be consumed by their own lust for power.

Obi-Wan meanwhile shifted uncomfortably on Qui-Gon's right flank, having trouble maintaining his silence. Hes on the other hand was not so unsure about all of this, given his recent encounter with the dark warrior.

Mace Windu leaned back heavily, his strong brow furling. "This is most difficult to accept, Qui-Gon."

Yoda glanced around at the other Council members. "Discover who this assassin is, we must," he pointed out.

"Perhaps he will reveal himself yet again," suggested Ki-Adi-Mundi with a nod to Qui-Gon.

Mace Windu nodded in agreement. "Yes. These attacks were with purpose. That much is clear. The Queen is his primary target. Since he already failed twice now, he will most likely attempt a third time to capture her."

Yoda lifted one skinny arm, pointing it at Qui-Gon. "With this Naboo queen you must stay, Qui-Gon. Protect her you must."

The others murmured their approval, evidencing their confidence of which they all felt in the Jedi Master's abilities. Still, Qui-Gon said nothing.

"We shall use all our resources to unravel this mystery. We _will_ discover the identity of your attacker," Mace Windu advised. "May the Force be with you."

All three Jedi then bowed respectfully to the Council before turning to quietly exit the room.

Up on the landing platform that the Naboo yacht had violently crashed on, the Rescue Ops finished extinguishing the fire which had destroyed almost all of the interior of the vessel, but only after they managed to cut all power to it's systems. Once they completed the task of putting out the blaze, they began searching around for the main cause of the initial crash. And it didn't take long to find it, even though they roughly searched through the entire ship in order to rule out any and all other possibilities, including the idea of sabotage, which in the end turned out _not_ to be a contributing factor of the crash.

Over in the Senate building, inside the Supreme Chancellor's office, both Senator Palpatine and Queen Amidala sat discussing much more in-depth on what to do about the present matters at hand with the Chancellor, who for some reason didn't look all that concerned about the situation.

"I've called for a special session of the Senate to hear your position, so that you may present your request for relief," said Valorum. "It is scheduled to convene later this evening. In the meantime, you and everyone who were with you should all rest-up, given the extent of your long journey here."

Palpatine turned his gaze toward the Queen. "There is a question of procedure, but I'm confident we can overcome it," he said reassuringly.

Amidala nodded gratefully at the two men. "That you both. Now if you will excuse me, Chancellor, I will retire," she uttered softly.

"Of course, Your Highness," replied Valorum. "Your chambers have already been fully prepared for your stay here on Coruscant."

The Queen nodded and rose from her seat, before turning and slowly walking towards the entrance doors of the Chancellor's office, with her handmaidens closely following on ether side of her.

Just as Palpatine himself was about to stand up, a hologram of one of the Rescue Ops personnel flickered and then fully appeared on Valorum's desk. The officer proceeded to tell the Supreme Chancellor of their findings concerning the wrecked Naboo yacht and the apparent cause of the crash.

"Conclude your investigations of the ship, and then send me your full report on the incident once your team has completed their work," instructed the Chancellor.

The officer nodded at him in response. "Yes, sir."

Palpatine rose to his feet as the hologram flickered and then died out. "Well then, I must go and help Queen Amidala prepare her case for the Senate hearing later tonight," he stated.

"Senator," the Supreme Chancellor replied bluntly.

With that, Senator Palpatine turned and walked out of the room, heading straight back to his own office, where the Queen was soon to meet with him.

Back in the medical facility's waiting area, Anakin and Kitster were busy playing with some toys near the corner wall along with a few other children that were there whom they had gotten acquainted with. And upon looking up from what they were doing, the two little boys saw Hes who was slowly walking towards the waiting area. Just then, a nurse casually strode up to the small group of youngsters and looked down at them, smiling.

"Hey, kids! Which one of you is Kitster?" she asked them.

Kitster slowly rose to stand on his feet, and as the nurse offered her hand for the little boy to take it, Kitster nervously looked back at the others. Hes casually smiled as he stepped forward.

"I'll go with him, if that's okay," he said politely the young woman who was all dressed in white. "This is his first time, and both he and his friend Anakin have never once been to a healthcare provider before."

The nurse suddenly had a mighty surprised look on her face. "Really? How come?" she questioned curiously.

"I'm from the planet of Tatooine, in the Outer Rim," answered Kitster.

"They have no form of a medical and wellness provision center there," Hes commented. "And apparently, the Republic will only provide resources to worlds that lie within it's boarders, which do not include the Outer Rim Territories, unfortunately."

The nurse slowly nodded understandably before gently taking little Kitster by the hand and tenderly guiding him down a very long hallway to one of the many examination rooms, with Hes following closely behind them. And upon entering the room, the nurse turned to face Banai, gesturing to a step-stool that was placed just below an examination table.

"Can you hop up here onto the table for me, please?" she asked little boy sweetly.

Kitster looked up at Hes who smiled and nodded, before motioning over to the step-stool, first putting his right foot and then left foot up onto it, but found that he was still a bit short to climb up onto the table all by himself without some assistance. Looking up at Hes again, the young Padawan graciously obliged and steadily picked him up, then gently sat the little boy on the table. The nurse then began to explain to Kitster that she was going to examine his eyes, ears, nose, throat, neck, shoulders, etc. The little boy nodded only slightly apprehensively at this before she began the process looking him over from head to toe, as well as front and back. She also listened to his heart and lungs as well as checking both his vitals and reflexes, while also preforming any other tasks that were required in the examination.

Once all that was finished, the nurse then helped Kitster down off the table, who in turn breathed a great sigh of relief that it was now over, then both he and Hes walked back to the waiting area to rejoin the others there. Several moments later, the same nurse approached the children once more, this time asking for little Anakin to come follow her into the exam room. Shmi immediately got up from her seat and walked up to the nurse after Anakin looked over at her quite anxiously.

"I'll come along with him if you don't mind. I'm Shmi. I'm his Mom."

The nurse again nodded quite understandably before gesturing for them to follow her, and she guided both of them back down the hallway into the examination room. After awhile, the three of them reappeared from the hallway, and as little Anakin went back over to where the toys were, the nurse then promptly walked up to and greeted both Sirius and baby Harry. Just as they were about to go back down the hall again, Shmi got up and strode over to the nurse, handing her the diaper bag that she had been carrying with her.

"Here. Just in case the baby might need to be changed," Shmi suggested to her.

"Okay. Are you two together also? Or is it just you and your son?" the nurse asked them, causing both Shmi and Sirius to glance briefly at each other, before realizing what it was that she meant.

Shmi immediately chuckled faintly at the question. "No. No, we're just very recent acquaintances. That's all," she stated. "It's just me and Ani. And his friend Kitster, of course."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the nurse swiftly apologized, feeling a small twinge of embarrassment as she momentarily put her hand up to her lips. "I didn't mean-"

"No, really, it's okay," Shmi reassured her softly.

The nurse smiled and nodded, before gesturing for Sirius to immediately follow her down the hallway with little baby Harry snuggled-up in his arms. Once there, the nurse politely asked Sirius if she could take the little one from him for a moment, which he agreed to. And upon noticing the exchange, Harry started to whimper and then whine as the nurse took him from his godfather's strong embrace and placed him gently on the examination table.

"Shhh, it's okay. Don't be scared. It's okay," the nurse cooed softly, as she removed the blanket which he was still wrapped in and put it off the side. Gently removing his clothes to check the state of his diaper, she found that little Harry did in fact need to be changed. Removing it, the young nurse then both quickly and thoroughly cleaned him up, before grabbing a clean diaper from inside the bag, as well as some baby powder that was stocked in there also. But just before she was about to go through the process of redressing him, she placed the items down on the table briefly, then leisurely scooped him up into her arms and walked out of the room, gradually striding a bit further down the hall with Sirius closing following behind, looking rather confused.

Turning on her heel, just to her immediate left, the nurse entered a dinky little space with cupboards and a counter-top which had a baby scale laying on it. Placing the now crying Harry on the scale, she recorded his approximate weight, but also his height upon measuring him once she managed to hold the little guy still for a couple seconds. She then picked up the baby and headed back into the examination room. After applying the powder to his bare butt, of which she briefly felt the urge to smack in order to get the babe to cooperate, even though she knew that doing so would result in Harry only crying harder and louder, she then managed to re-diaper and re-clothe the tiny rascal, with some minimal resistance from the quite as of now very finicky tot.

Once all that was said and done, and the examination was finally completed after taking several minutes longer to preform than was initially expected, due in part to little Harry putting up a bit of a fight, thus making it more difficult for the nurse to exam him, little Harry Potter and Sirius Black were then escorted back down the long hallway and into the waiting area once again.

As they approached the group, Shmi and Hes both walked up to them.

"That took long enough. We were just beginning to wonder what happened to you guys," said Hes. "Did everything go alright?"

The nurse responded with a heavily exasperated sigh. "Remind me in the future to never have kids," she stated, after relaying what had occurred between her and Harry during the examination.

Everyone instantly laughed at her latter comment. Hes suddenly looked over at the baby, who just moments earlier had at last managed to calm down considerably, now that he was back in his godfather's arms.

"Looks like someone's been a bit naughty," the Padawan scolded him, causing the little tyke to whimper shamefully.

Harry slowly looked up at his godfather, who was also giving him a stern expression, making him extend his lower lip outwards a bit as he whimpered even more.

"Now, is there something that you would like to say? Perhaps… telling her that you're sorry?" Sirius advised the little one.

The one-year-old faintly nodded his tiny head and looked over at the nurse, fully regretting what had happened. "Me sowwy," he apologized sincerely.

Upon him apologizing to her for his _tantrum_ , the nurse smiled and lightly kissed Harry on the forehead in acceptance of his apology.

An instant or two later, Hes' comlink started to beep. Momentarily excusing himself from the rest of the group, the Padawan removed the device from his belt and activated it. "Yeah?"

"Hes, the Council has requested an immediate audience with Sirius Black. Though, they wouldn't say as to why," said Qui-Gon as his voice sounded through the comlink.

The tween Padawan rolled his eyes at the last part as he sighed inwardly to himself. "All right. We'll be there," he replied. After switching off his comlink and placing it back onto his belt, Hes immediately turned to directly face Sirius. "Come on. We're expected back at the Temple. The Council is apparently wanting to see you."

Black looked quite stunned and bewildered at hearing this news. "Me? What do your superiors want to see me for?" he asked in astonishment.

"No idea," the Padawan answered, shaking his head. "Although, if I ventured to guess, it's him they're more interested in seeing." Hes abruptly pointed at the baby upon finishing his sentence.

Sirius nodded rather bemusedly at this before closely following the boy directly to the main entrance of medical facility, where they first checked out at the reception deck and then climbed aboard an air taxi that would take them directly from there all the way over to the Jedi Temple.

' _This is going to be most interesting,_ ' the Padawan thought quietly to himself, in regards to Sirius and especially little baby Harry, both of whom would be coming face to face with many, many more extraterrestrial beings apart from seeing Jar Jar for the first time, due to Sirius almost completely flipping-out the moment he set eyes on the Gungan, who had rather stupidly gotten right up into his face just as Black had turned his head to look in Binks' immediate direction. Hes desperately wanted to ring the Gungan's neck right there and then at that moment.

' _This is going to be most interesting, indeed._ '


	18. Ch 17 - Senate Hearing

Author's Note: **Heavy Sigh** **_Finally!_** This new chapter is finally up! Let me know if there are any mistakes and/or errors in it, and let me know what you all think of this new one.

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **Senate Hearing**

Over in the Senate Office building, Queen Amidala and her handmaidens slowly entered upon the Senator permitting them to come in and sit down to discuss matters concerning the Senate hearing which was to take place within the next few hours.

Just then, Palpatine noticed someone, who was quite small in stature, peering at them through the slim crack in the doorway that lead into a waiting room. Moving towards the door slowly, he could faintly hear a woman's firm voice scolding the person to both sit down and behave themselves. He opened the door fully, only to find little Anakin pouting with his arms folded across him, sitting in between Jar Jar, who was also looking rather weary of something to do, and his mother Shmi, with little Kitster sitting on the opposite side of her, effectively separating the two little boys apart from each other, who in turn bore a similar expression on his face to that of his best friend.

"Is anything the matter?" the Senator asked them.

Shmi looked up at him and shook her head. "No. They're just restless is all," she replied bluntly.

"Why can't we go and play, Mom?" pouted Anakin. "It's no fun being here."

Shmi gave her son very stern motherly look upon glancing down at him. "Well, too bad."

Palpatine smiled at the two children as he thought to himself for a minute, and then walked over to Anakin and crouched down to be at eye-level with the little boy.

"You know, there's a science museum here in Galactic City if you're at all interested in wanting to go and see it," he suggested.

Anakin and Kitster both instantly beamed with utter excitement at hearing this. They looked directly at Shmi with very pleading expressions.

"Can we go, Mom?" little Ani asked her rather zealously as he stood up from where he was sitting and began relentlessly bounding up and down on the spot. "Can we, can we? Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please?"

Shmi exhaled a long drawn-out groan of sheer annoyance as she rolled her eyes in total defeat. "Ugh! All right! If it'll keep you both quiet and occupied for five minutes!" she half-yelled metaphorically in growing frustration, causing Anakin to slightly and momentarily cringe at her tone.

"Good. I'll notify the Jedi of where you'll all be at in case they come around looking for you," said Palpatine as he rose to his feet, before quietly walking back into his office and this time shutting the door fully closed all the way. Motioning over toward his desk, he briefly contacted a nearby airbus to come and pick up his four guests in the waiting area and take them all to the science museum which was located several miles away from there.

After a very short while, the airbus dutifully arrived and Palpatine then instructed one of his personnel to escort the guests to the main entrance of the building. And as the remaining three occupants in the waiting room got up and all of them followed the personnel towards the entrance, with Anakin and Kitster both madly prancing along most happily, the doors of the front entrance promptly opened up and Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn stepped through into the building, immediately striding over towards the group as both him and Shmi smiled at each other from a steadily waning distance.

"Hi, Qui-Gon!" exclaimed Anakin with great exhilaration.

"Hey, Ani. Where are you all off to?" the Jedi Master asked curiously.

"We're going to a science museum!" Kitster answered gleefully.

Qui-Gon glanced up at Shmi who nodded. "Science museum, huh? Sounds like fun," he expressed as he looked down at the children again.

"Will you come with us, _please_?" Anakin asked in a most pleading tone of voice.

"Sure. Why not," the Jedi Master obliged graciously.

With that, the two small boys looked at each other and grinned widely with rather mischievous expressions plastered all over their little cherubic faces, before scampering forward to the waiting airbus just a few yards beyond the front entrance doors as both of them let out a mightily loud and strong " _ **YAY‼ YIPPEE‼**_ ", with young Jar Jar Binks promptly joining-in the outrageous frolicking almost instantaneously.

Shmi immediately rolled her eyes as she shook her slowly drooping head at all three of the youth's antics, before glancing up at Qui-Gon who was now walking along beside her as he gently chuckled inwardly to himself.

"Boys will be boys," he stated rather candidly.

His recent lover softly scoffed at the very notion in reply. "Tell me about it."

As the air taxi flew ever-closer towards the Jedi Temple, it's massive size and scale becoming more and more prominent with each passing instant, Sirius Black looked-on in absolute wonder and curiosity at the sheer scope of the mountainous establishment. The mere sight of it alone was both breathtaking as well as heart-stopping to him, given that he had never once seen anything like it before _anywhere_ on Earth. Getting out of the vehicle, Hes slowly and gingerly aided Black as he stepped out of the taxi with a soundly-sleeping baby Harry resting comfortably in his arms. Walking up the steps that led to the main entrance, Sirius turned his gaze upwards to look at the two giant stone statues that stood guarding the doorway.

Hes turned around to face Black once they had entered the Temple. "Wait here," he instructed, before taking off down the massively long hall towards the Jedi High Council tower using both his superpowers as well as Force Speed to arrive at the entrance to the Council chamber within nanoseconds. As he stepped through the opening doorway, Master Yoda and the other greeted him with a casual nod.

"Hes, welcome. Brought them both here to the Temple as requested, have you?" inquired Yoda, knowing full-well of whom he was talking about.

The boy nodded in response to the question. "I have, Masters. They're both waiting just inside the Temple entrance. But might I suggest that only humans be present near them to start with. One of them very nearly freaked-out earlier at the sight of the Gungan known as Jar Jar Binks," he stated firmly.

Yoda and Windu looked at each other momentarily, before bringing their attention back to the Padawan Learner again. Mace then slowly rose to a standing position from his chair and promptly signaled for his former apprentice, Depa Billaba, to accompany him and Starrgazer down to the main entrance of the Temple where both Sirius and little Harry were still waiting. Upon reaching the main level, and the three Jedi gradually striding towards the entrance, Hes and the other two suddenly found to their great surprise a furry-black four-legged animal standing next to baby Potter, who was contently sitting on the floor, giggling and laughing quite cheerfully with amusement as the animal playfully licked his face all over.

"Padfoot, top! Dat ickle!" exclaimed little Harry through his hysterics.

The animal promptly looked up at the three Jedi standing only a couple feet away after noticing three pairs of boots on the ground nearby, and to their sudden astonishment, rose up onto it's hind legs as it physically changed in both shape, size, and appearance until only Sirius Black stood where the creature was previously seen. And as Black casually scooped the still giggling baby up into his arms, Hes nodded in obviousness to himself.

"That's why the little guy called you " _Padfoot_ ", isn't it?" the boy surmised. "You're a Changeling."

Sirius looked at the young lad in a peculiar manner, not quite sure of what he was talking about. Mace Windu then stepped forward to clarify what the Padawan had meant by that.

"What he's saying is that you're a Shapeshifter," he voiced. "You possess the ability to physically change both your shape and appearance, from one thing into another."

Black nodded his head understandably after hearing this. "Yes. I'm what is commonly referred to in the Wizarding World as an Animagus. Typically, an Animagus is a very skilled Witch or Wizard who has thus learned how to magically transform him or herself into the form of an animal at will."

"And who might this be?" Depa inquired almost at once, gesturing to Harry as she came to stand beside her former Master.

"This is Harry. My godson," Sirius answered, before glancing down at the baby. "Say "hi" to them, Harry," he softly ushered.

Harry steadily looked over at both Mace and Depa rather shyly. "Hi," he replied softly and quietly, while waving his tiny hand slowly at them.

Depa smiled kindly at the little one before Hes casually gestured for Sirius to follow all three of them further into the Temple. As they steadily made their way through the many enormous hallways and corridors, with Sirius continuously staring in absolute wonder at everything around him, Starrgazer began to explain to him the many different events and other such things that went on within the very walls of the Temple on a daily basis. But he soon decided to quite talking altogether, as he could plainly see that Black was only half-listening to him.

Making their way to the southwest quarter of the complex, the small group approached a door that led into the Temple's medical bay, or what the Order commonly referred to as the Halls of Healing, and went inside. Striding directly over to the infirmary, Windu promptly told Sirius that they needed to get a sample of Harry's blood for testing.

"I thought they already did that over in the medical center," Black immediately protested.

Windu nodded solemnly. "Yes, they sent us their report on the child's medical examination. But this is a specific kind of test that can only be preformed by either a Jedi, or here at the Temple's medical bay via a medical droid," he stated.

Hes then politely requested for Sirius to hand the baby to him for just a moment or two so that Harry wouldn't feel any amount of pain when his blood was drawn for the test, as Starrgazer would thus use his powers to neutralize the pain receptors inside Potter's arm so that he wouldn't get all fidgety while being pricked with the needle.

After a moment, Black handed the baby over to him as the Padawan took a seat at the edge of one of the many beds that lined the two opposite-facing walls and gently positioned little Harry onto his lap. Hes then nodded for Windu to alert a nearby medical droid that they were ready. Once the droid came over to them and had taken the needed blood sample, with Potter not even shedding so much as a single tear or crying out from the needle's sting, since Hes used his powers to numb the baby's arm for a brief moment, the little one was then swiftly handed back to Sirius.

The medical droid then took the blood sample over to a lab to be tested for a midi-chlorian count, and upon returning to the group a few moments later, it privately informed the Jedi that the baby's midi-chlorian levels exceeded just above that of approximately sixteen-thousand per cell within his bloodstream.

Mace and Depa both looked at each other for a rather long moment upon hearing this news. _This…was quite intriguing._ Little Harry's midi-chlorian count positively indicated that he was most certainly very, _VERY_ strong with the Force. And upon both Jedi also witnessing the amount of skill that Black possessed with the ability of Metamorphosis, they both silently agreed with the other to inform the Council at once of these matters.

As night fell over the majestic city-planet, the Galactic Senators from all corners of the known galaxy began to assemble for the imminent hearing that was due to take place within the hour. The chamber in which they were all to gather in, that was precisely located at the exact center of the Senate building had the distinct look of an arena, circular and massive, with doors opening off exterior ramp-ways at dozens upon dozens of various levels above the main floor. At the center of the chamber, a tall slender column supported the Supreme Chancellor's platform, a broad semi-enclosed area that allowed Valorum, who was already present, to ether sit or stand as he chose in the company of his vice-chair and staff. All around the smooth interior walls of the arena, Senate boxes jutted from hangar bays off of entry-doors, some fixed in place while their Senators conferred with staff and visitors, while others floated just off their moorings.

When a Senator requested permission to speak and was recognized by the chair, their box would float into the center of the arena, hovering close to the Supreme Chancellor's podium, where it would remain until the speech was concluded.

Banners and curtains hung from the rounded ceiling in brilliant streamers, and indirect lighting glowed softly from every corner, brightening the rotunda's cavernous interior. Droids bustled along the exterior ramp-ways carrying messages from one delegation to the next, the movement of their metal bodies giving the chamber the look of a complex piece of machinery.

Senator Palpatine was conversing with Queen Amidala as the two, along with both the Queen's handmaidens and royal guards led by Captain Panaka, slowly approached the Senate chamber.

"If the Federation moves to defer the motion, Your Majesty," the Senator said to Amidala, his head bent close, his voice slow and instant, "then I beg of you to ask for a resolution to end this session and to call for the election of a new Supreme Chancellor."

Amidala did not look at him as she continued to advance toward the Naboo box. "I wish I had your confidence in this proposal, Senator," she replied quietly.

"You must force a new election for Supreme Chancellor," Palpatine pressed. "I promise you that there are many who will support us. It is our best chance." He glanced toward the podium and Valorum. " _Our only chance._ "

A murmur had arisen from the assembled Senators as they caught sight of Queen Amidala standing at the entry door to the Naboo box, her robes of office flowing out behind her, head erect, face calm. If she heard the change in tenor of the level of conversation around her, she gave no sign. Her eyes shifted momentarily to look at Palpatine.

"You truly believe that Chancellor Valorum will not bring our motion to vote?" she asked quietly.

Palpatine shook his head, his high brow furrowing. "He is distracted. He is afraid. He will be of no help in this matter."

Upon stepping into the Naboo box with the Senator, Amidala was joined by her handmaidens and Captain Panaka, while the Naboo royal guards waited patiently just outside the entry door. The Naboo box then detached from its docking and floated a short distance toward the Supreme Chancellor's podium, waiting for permission to advance all the way. Palpatine, Amidala, and the rest of the occupants were all seated now.

Valorum nodded his short cropped white head in the direction of Palpatine. "The chair recognizes the Senator from the sovereign system of Naboo."

The Naboo box swiftly glided to the center of the arena, and Palpatine rose to his feet, taking in the assemblage with a slow sweeping gaze that drew all eyes toward his.

"Supreme Chancellor, delegates of the Senate," his voice boomed, quieting the chamber. "A tragedy has occurred on Naboo. We have become caught up in a dispute, one of which you are no doubt all well aware of. It started right here with the taxation of trade routes, and has now engulfed our entire planet in the oppression of the Trade Federation, who in turn bears sole responsibility for this injustice, and as such, must be made to answer."

A second Senate box was promptly rushing forward by now, this one bearing the unmistakable markings of the Trade Federation itself, and occupied by the Federation Senator, Lott Dod, as well as a handful of trade barons who sat in attendance.

"This is outrageous!" the Neimoidian Senator thundered, gesturing toward the podium and Valorum. He loomed out of the low-railed box like a willowy tree. "I object to the Senator's ridiculous statements and accusations!"

Valorum's white head swiveled briefly in Lott Dod's direction and one hand lifted. "The chair does not recognize the Senator from the Trade Federation at this time," the Supreme Chancellor's voice was soft, but steady. "Return to your station."

Lott Dod looked as if he might say something more, but then he lowered himself back into his seat as his box slowly retreated.

"To state our allegations in full," Palpatine continued, "I present Queen Amidala. The recently elected ruler of the Naboo, who speaks on our behalf."

He stepped aside, and Amidala rose to a light scattering of applause. Moving to the front of the box, she faced Valorum.

"Honorable representatives of the Republic, distinguished delegates, and Supreme Chancellor Valorum, I come to you now under the gravest of circumstances. In repudiation and violation of the laws of the Republic, the Naboo system has been invaded and subjugated by force by the droid armies of the Trade Federation."

Lott Dod was immediately on his feet again, his voice raised angrily. "I object! This is nonsense! Where is the proof?" He did not wait for recognition as he turned to the chamber at large. "This is incredible. We recommend that a commission be sent to Naboo to ascertain the truth of these allegations."

The Chancellor shook his head. "Overruled."

Lott Dod sighed heavily and threw up his hands, as if with that single word, his life had become hopeless. "Your Honor, you cannot allow us to be condemned without granting our requests for an impartial observation. It is against all the rules of procedure." He scanned the chamber for help, and there was a murmur of agreement from the delegates.

A third box suddenly glided forward to join those of both the Naboo and the Trade Federation. The chair recognized Aks Moe, a Gran who was the Senate representative from the planet of Malastare. Stocky and slow-moving, his three eye stalks waving gently, Aks Moe gestured to those who were seated behind him. "The congress of Malastare concurs with the honorable delegates of the Trade Federation." His voice was thick and gnarly. "A commission, once requested, must be appointed where there is a dispute of the sort we have encountered here. It is the law."

Valorum hesitated. "The point is-" He trailed off uncertainly, leaving the sentence unfinished, and turned to confer with his vice-chair who promptly had something of importance to say. Together with their aides, the chair and vice-chair engaged in a hurried discussion.

"Enter the bureaucrats," remarked Palpatine as he leaned in closely to Amidala and whispered into her ear, his tone heavy. "The true rulers of the Republic. And on the payroll of the Trade Federation, I might add. This is where Chancellor Valorum's strength will disappear."

As Palpatine retreated to his original position from whence he stood, Valorum moved back to the podium, a worn look on his face.

"The point is conceded. Section 523-A takes precedence here," he stated, before nodding in the direction of the Naboo box. "Queen Amidala of the Naboo, will you defer your motion in order to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations?"

Upon hearing this, the Queen stiffened in surprise. And when she spoke out, her voice was edged with anger and determination.

"I will not defer!" she declared, her eyes locked on Valorum. "I've come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now! I was not elected Queen simply to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee! If this body is not capable of action, then I suggest new leadership is needed!"

Amidala paused briefly as both whispers and murmurs among the representatives began to spend anew throughout the whole chamber.

"I move for a vote of no confidence…in Chancellor Valorum's leadership," the Queen declared at last.

Voices all throughout the arena rose immediately in direct response to Queen Amidala's decision, some in support, others in protest. Senators and spectators alike came to their feet, loud mutterings quickly building to shouts that echoed greatly through the cavernous chamber. Valorum stood speechless at the podium, stunned and disbelieving. He stared at Amidala, his face etched in sudden shock as the impact of awards registered. Amidala faced him boldly, waiting.

The vice-chair, Mas Amedda, who was of a species known as Chagrians from the planet of Champala, had at once stepped forward directly in front of Valorum, who had in turn promptly stepped back to allow Amedda to take charge of the podium, as he was much too dumbfounded to address the whole of the arena to be still and quiet as the Republic Senate erupted anew, and the vast majority of those assembled began chanting quite vocally as well as loudly in an almost crescendo-like beat.

" _Vote now! Vote now! Vote now! Vote now! Vote now! Vote now! Vote now! Vote now!_ " came the chorus of voices, all of them in unison.

"Order!" the vice-chair immediately bellowed. "We shall have order!"

The assembly slowly quieted down after a short period of time, and the delegates receded themselves, gradually responding to Amedda's command, just as the Trade Federation box had then briefly maneuvered into position, close beside the Naboo box, with Lott Dod exchanging a quick glance with Palpatine, yet nether spoke. Suddenly a new box floated to the center of the chamber, and the vice chair recognized Bail Antilles, the Senator from the planet of Alderaan.

"Alderaan seconds the motion for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum," proclaimed Senator Antilles with an utmost convicting tone to his words.

Slumping down into his chair, the Chancellor felt an overwhelmingly massive wave of outright defeat rush through him, as the all-too-sudden realization of both the Queen and Senator Antilles' proclamations against him seemed to have knocked the wind from his chest, just as if he had received a massively powerful, not to mention painful blow to the gut. To him, this sudden and completely unanticipated announcement made by the Naboo Queen meant only one thing. Valorum… was finished.

"You see, Your Majesty? The tide is with us," Palpatine announced quietly to Amidala. "Valorum will be voted out, I assure you. And they will elect a new Chancellor. A strong Chancellor. One who will not let our tragedy continue."

Mos Amedda was now standing back at the podium, addressing the chamber, only after speaking quickly with the Chancellor while keeping his voice low and his words hidden behind his hand as Valorum in turn looked at him uncomprehendingly, eyes distant… and lost.

"The Supreme Chancellor requests a recess," the vice-chair announced rather unexpectedly to the stun of everyone present there.

Shouts of outrage immediately rose from the delegates upon hearing those words, echoing in mighty thunderous waves as Valorum stared at both Senator Palpatine and Queen Amidala, a look of utter betrayal now registered quite clearly on the Supreme Chancellor's anguished face.

For Amidala, the sudden announcement by the vice-chair meant only one thing to her. There was not going to be a quick resolution to this problem, as the delegation would no doubt be spending countless hours squabbling over nominations and votes alike. Adding to that the fact that her ship had been completely decimated upon their landing on the planet, and there were currently no other means of going back to Naboo that were readily available to her at the present time. The Queen was officially stuck there on Coruscant, while the grim fate of her people hung with uncertainty in the balance.

After spending several hours at the science museum, Qui-Gon, Shmi, Anakin, Kitster, and Jar Jar all got into an air taxi and headed straight for the Jedi Temple as it was nearly closing time for the establishment. While there, Qui-Gon had kept a mightily close watch on Binks, as the Gungan would try to get his hands on nearly anything that he found to be interesting and/or exciting to him.

Once the group reached the Temple and went inside, the Jedi Master directed the four individuals to some washrooms, so that they could all clean-up. And after Shmi had showered, while Anakin and Kitster both hopped into the bath together, they were given some fresh clothes and a couple rooms to sleep in. Jar Jar's clothing had to be thoroughly cleaned and pressed while he also showered, as there were no clothes that were available in his size.

Sirius Black had also thoroughly showered and cleaned-up as well, while little Harry had been gently bathed, changed, and fed by Hes, since he was really the only one that Black knew well enough apart from everyone else there to do those things for him while he in turn washed-up. Not to mention that the baby felt much more comfortable around either the Padawan or his godfather than he would have had it been anyone else.

After all was said and done, Sirius and little Harry were guided to a room of there own to stay in, not to far away from Hes' chambers. And as Sirius settled down to sleep, with little Harry in his arms, since there wasn't a crib for the baby to rest in at that moment, he pondered deeply the thought of what his new life with his godson was going to be like here on this strange new world.


	19. Ch 18 - Going Back

Author's Note: I'm ever so very sorry that this chapter took so long to do, but I haven't been all that well these past months. Damn these Arizona summers and the heat! They really mess me up big time, and I absolutely hate that! Anyhow, please read and review this and tell me of any mistakes and/or errors, as this is the longest chapter as yet.

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

 **Going Back**

The following morning at the Jedi Temple, everyone from the group ( _that being Shmi, Anakin, Kitster, Jar Jar, and Sirius_ ) had all woken-up feeling quite-well and refreshed after a goodnight's rest only just a few hours after the sun had completely climbed-up over the horizon. All that is…except for one.

Little baby Harry was contently snoring away rather softly as Sirius was careful not to disturb the little guy moments after he had gotten-up, and then quietly motioned towards the door of their chambers for a brief period of time in order to stretch his legs for a bit, yet not before remembering to grab his wand on the way out. Upon exiting the room, Black immediately turned and walked in the direction that he believed Hes' chambers were in. And after strolling along the many hallways and corridors for a short while, he came to a door that was slightly different from those he had passed by along the way.

' _Is this where Josh's room is?_ ' he quietly thought to himself, a tad confused. He didn't know why, but he felt as though something invisible had guided him here to this one particular room for some unknown reason.

" _Enter,_ " came a sudden and extraordinarily strange-sounding voice from beyond the sealed doorway.

Sirius looked all over for a way to open the door since there wasn't any kind of a handle or knob attached to it. After about a moment or two of not finding any sort of way to open the door manually, he then started to reach inside his tunic and retrieve his wand, thereby intending to use Magic to open-up the closed door instead, when the voice promptly spoke-out once more.

" _On the panel to your left, press the right-hand button to open the door, you must,_ " it calmly instructed him.

Upon seeing the control panel next to the door, Sirius pushed the correct button and the door slid vertically upwards as it opened to a dimly lit room with the shades drawn to expel much of the sun's morning rays that shown brightly through the windows of the chamber. As he carefully stepped-foot inside, he immediately noticed a small pointy-eared creature sitting with it's back toward him. When all at once, it gingerly turned on the spot, shifting it's weight in the direction of where Black now stood in order to face him.

"Sensed your presence in the Force, I could. Wondering why it is that you're here, you are?" the little green creature asked bluntly, thus causing Sirius to take note of it's peculiar form of speech.

"Who- _What_ …are you?" Black asked quite curiously.

The small green pointy-eared creature smiled softly at his question, before promptly chuckling inwardly to itself. "Master Yoda, of the Jedi Council, I am," it replied after a moment. "Please, come. Sit."

Yoda casually gestured to a large circular-shaped pad nearby. After a minute's hesitation, Sirius then gradually walked over and sat down, directly in front of and facing Yoda while his inquisitive gaze never wavered even once in the slightest from goggling at the strange sight of the Jedi Master.

Meanwhile, as Hes woke-up from a deep and restful slumber, he could sense a faint stir through the Force close-by almost at once. Getting to his feet, he quickly washed-up, changed, grabbed his lightsaber, and bolted out the door to his chambers all within a matter of seconds. Taking long strides down the adjoining corridor, the Padawan then leisurely made his way directly over to Harry and Sirius' guest chambers. And upon pressing the control-panel button to open the door, Hes walked in and found the baby whimpering on the floor as he slowly tossed and turned about in his sleep.

Crouching down on both knees, the Padawan Learner gently scooped little baby Harry up into his arms and started lightly rocking him back and forth to soothe him as he slowly rose to a standing position once again. After a moment of the continuous light swaying motion, Harry began to relax and Hes then walked out of the room with him nestled safely on his chest, and then turning in the immediate direction of where he sensed Black had gone off to, fully intended to find out why the baby's godfather had simply left him there all alone by himself.

As the boy gradually moved through the adjoining hallways, walking passed the many rows of sleeping chambers, a young pupil who was just around Hes' own age stepped out of their room and into the open corridor.

Hes, recognizing immediately who it was, gradually approached the young Jedi student, known as Kam Lohgun, with a faint sense of disdain as the boy turned to look in his direction.

Lohgun was a rather snarky and vain twelve-year-old, not to mention particularly headstrong, with dark brown hair and greyish eyes, who was a bit tall for someone of his age. Granted, he wasn't as tall as Hes was, but still, he was very close.

"Well, well, look who it is! The star pupil! The best of the best of us! Top of his class! The ' _Polished Padawan!_ '" the young boy uttered quite mockingly at Hes. "Weren't you supposed to be on a mission with two other Jedi or something?"

"And good morning to you too, Kam," Hes responded with a tiny inward groan as he merely rolled his eyes in annoyance at Kam's idiotic taunts.

Kam narrowed his own eyes in a jealous glare at hearing Starrgazer's response. "Don't " _good morning_ " me, Hes! Answer my question!" he retorted sharply.

Starrgazer exhaled a light sigh of exasperation, not wanting to have anything to do his arch rival at the current moment in time. "Come on, let's not start this now," he calmly expressed. "I only just got back yesterday. And yes, to answer your question, we're still on mission."

"Then why don't you just leave and go finish what you started, nerf-herder!" Kam yelled, thus causing little Harry to wake-up crying from the moderately rude disturbance.

Hes glared relatively harshly at Kam with a malice conviction for doing that. "Damn you, Lohgun! That was _real_ slick! I hope you're happy!"

Kam narrowed his eyes once more, this time, in a fiery rage as his right hand immediately went straight for his belt to retrieve his lightsaber.

"Don't even think about it!" snapped Hes, quickly moving his own hand up to snatch the weapon from his opponent's belt with the Force, when all of a sudden, a mightily loud and familiar voice that Hes immediately recognized rang out from a short distance off, and bellowed a most peculiar-sounding word in the general direction of the two boys.

" _EXPELLIARMUS!_ "

A scarlet-colored beam of light suddenly appeared out of nowhere and impacted with the hilt of Kam Lohgun's lightsaber, knocking it right out of his hand at the exact moment that he took it off his belt. The weapon went flying and then landed on the ground several inches from Sirius' feet, where the man stood firmly grasping his wand in hand, with Master Yoda very near him who was sitting cross-legged in a hover-chair that floated several feet up off the floor, so that the small green Jedi Master was just about at eye-level with Black.

Hes began to gently rock the still crying baby in his arms to calm him down as Yoda slowly motioned towards both of the youths. Watching them for several moments, the little green Jedi Master then turned his gaze directly to Lohgun, who in turn was looking at him with a cold expression on his face.

"Kam, go to your room, you will!" Yoda commanded firmly.

Giving the Jedi Master a very defiant nod in response, the young pupil turned to go back toward his chambers, but not before sending Hes a look of pure spite with his white-hot and piercing dagger eyes that narrowed to slits, which basically said without verbally communicating his thoughts directly to Starrgazer of what he was wanting to do at that precise moment.

' _Next time you cross me, Starrgazer, you're dead_ _‼_ '

Hes, not being the least bit intimidated by the death look, shot back a warning glance of his own before walking over to Sirius and handing his godson back to him. Nodding his thanks, Black gently took little Harry from the Padawan Learner and started rocking him in his arms, which in turn caused the baby to go quiet almost instantly. Looking up at Hes once more, he abruptly saw a questioning stare written on the boy's face. Knowing what this meant, he motioned with his eyes in the general direction of Master Yoda. And upon seeing the gesture, Hes glanced from Sirius to Yoda and back again, before exhaling a comprehensive sigh and giving an apparent nod to himself as to what had happened.

Motioning for both of them to follow, Yoda then slowly hovered through the many large hallways and corridors of the Temple until they eventually came to the entrance of a lift tube that went straight all the way up to the near top of the High Council Tower, where a giant holomap of the galaxy was situated in the exact center of a room that was set directly underneath the High Council chamber itself. The small Grandmaster then turned to look directly at Hes after getting out of his hover-chair, before only he and Sirius were both permitted to enter another lift that would take them up to the assembled Council chamber for a very important meeting.

"Wait here, Padawan. A private matter, this is. Speak with Sirius Black alone, the Council must," declared Yoda.

Giving the Jedi Master a briefly puzzled look, Hes politely nodded before turning in the direction of the holomap and sat down with his legs crossed on the ground as he closed his eyes in deep meditation, while Sirius cautiously entered the Council chamber after taking the other lift up to the very top floor, maintaining a safe distance of several feet behind Yoda, as he was most unsure of what or who was waiting for both him and his godson inside.

Meanwhile, over in the Senate building, all of the numerously gathered delegates were now well into the tedious process of choosing the nominations of those who were running for and hoping to be elected to the top ranking position of Supreme Chancellor for the Galactic Republic. And once all of that was sorted out, it was going to take some time for everyone to vote on the most likely candidate with the highest of approval ratings in order for them to get elected to office.

As all of that was happening, Chancellor Valorum had arranged to secretly meet with Queen Amidala, accompanied by both her handmaidens and guards, in private. Knowing that the Queen was probably quite anxious to return to her home-planet of Naboo as soon as possible, but also knowing full-well that her primary means of transportation was ultimately destroyed upon landing on the city-planet, thus stranding both her and her passengers and crew on Coruscant indefinitely, Valorum arranged for a Republic shuttle to take Amidala and the others back to Naboo soon after the whole business with the Senate had been completely resolved. The Queen, upon hearing this news, graciously thanked him for organizing a means of transport back to her home-world before retreating to her private quarters, where Anakin unexpectedly sat waiting in an adjacent hallway for Padmé to return, once he had learned of where she was staying.

"Ani, what are you doing here?" the handmaiden asked a bit in surprise upon seeing him.

Anakin smiled up at her. "I came to see you," he answered cheerfully. "There's something I wanted to give you before going back to the Jedi Temple to begin my training, I hope."

Padmé momentarily looked over at the Queen, who in turn nodded her head in favor of permitting the little boy to come inside and talk with her only for a short while. Upon giving him permission to accompany them into Amidala's private chambers, Anakin took Padmé's hand as she quietly lead him towards a small couch that was positioned in one of the adjoining rooms, and the two sat down facing each other.

"So… what is it you wanted to show me?" the handmaiden asked politely.

Anakin smiled once more as he reached into the pocket of his tunic. "Here," he said, extending his palm out towards her and holding a tiny wooden object in his hand. "I made this for you. So you'd remember me."

Kindly accepting the gift from little Anakin, Padmé could now see that it was an intricately carved wooden pendent, which was elegantly handcrafted with traditional Tatooine sand symbols and threaded through a teeny hole that was poked into the top with a Jerba leather cord so that it could be worn as a necklace. She studied it a moment, her finger ever so softly and steadily moving over the carefully sculpted symbols which adorned it's front surface.

"You like it?" asked Anakin with high anticipation after a brief instant of silence. "I carved it out of a japor snippet. It'll bring you good fortune."

Padmé, saying nothing, slipped the pendent around her neck before lifting her head and looking at Anakin directly, smiling sweetly at him.

"It's beautiful," she gently replied at last. "Thank you."

Anakin smiled back at her and the two then embraced each other in firm and caring hug, staying like that for a good few moments, before gradually separating again. Just then, a royal Naboo guard walked into the room as both of them glanced in the direction of the archway at him.

"There's someone here to retrieve the boy," stated the guard. A moment later, Qui-Gon stepped through the archway into the room and nodded directly at Anakin, who in turn nodded back understandably as to why the Jedi Master was here.

Anakin and Padmé both stared directly at each other for an extended moment one last time, before the little boy hopped off the couch and quietly followed the Jedi out of the Queen's private quarters to a waiting airbus that was parked just outside of the building.

Back inside the Jedi Temple, the private session between Sirius Black and the Council was now over, and afterwards, Shmi Skywalker, while guided through the Temple by Depa Billaba whom she had gotten acquainted with, had politely taken baby Potter from Sirius' arms, and went over to a nursery that was setup for Jedi Younglings, both new arrivals and older children alike, who hadn't yet reached the rank of Padawan. She also began teaching Black all of the many different ins and outs of how to care for and parent a child. More specifically, babies like his godson, Harry, since Shmi herself had previously gone through just such an experience with her own son, Anakin, when he was that small. And even though there were caregivers on staff at the Temple, Shmi firmly believed that Black himself was really the best choice for looking after Harry.

The airbus which carried Qui-Gon and Anakin, as well as Obi-Wan, who had joined his Master in recovering the little boy, had stopped just a couple yards away from the front steps that lead to the Temple entrance. Getting out, they walked into the Temple and gradually made their way up to the High Council chamber, where Master Yoda and the other members were all waiting for them. Upon entering the chamber, Anakin immediately noticed the many strange and varying appearances of each and everyone of the Jedi there, a couple individuals in particular looked to be of the same species, both of which he was not familiar with. Others in the circular room, of their species, he also didn't recognize. Out of all of them, only two stood out. That being the two human Jedi sitting on near opposite sides of the room, Master Mace Windu, and his former apprentice, Master Depa Billaba.

After being dismissed by the Council, thereby leaving little Anakin behind, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan leisurely made their way over to the Temple Spire, and walked out onto one of it's four rather large balconies that overlooked a full three-hundred and sixty degree view of Coruscant from high above at the top of it. Nether had said anything to the other for sometime. They had collected Anakin from Queen Amidala's private quarters, following his brief meeting that he had had with Padmé, and brought him before the Council for examination, which Qui-Gon had greatly requested of the Council the night before.

Now they were awaiting a decision.

As far as Obi-Wan was concerned, it was a foregone conclusion. The young Jedi was frustrated and embarrassed for his Master, who had clearly overstepped his bounds once again. Qui-Gon had been right in his suspicions that the boy had possessed of an unordinarily high midi-chlorian count. And even though Obi-Wan had run the test himself, that alone was not enough to demonstrate that Anakin was the Chosen One. If there even _was_ such a One, which Obi-Wan seriously doubted.

There were hundreds of these old prophecies and legends, handed down through the centuries as a part of Jedi lore. In any case, Qui-Gon was relying on instinct once again. An instinct was useful only if born of the Force, and not of emotion. Qui-Gon was insistent on championing the causes of underdogs, of empathizing with creatures he found in some peculiar inscrutable way he alone could comprehend, significant in the scheme of things.

Obi-Wan studied his mentor surreptitiously as he moved to where the older Jedi stood, staring out at the endless horizon of skyscrapers. He stood close to him, silent for a moment longer before speaking.

"The boy will not pass the Council's tests, Master," he said softly. "And you know it. He's far too old."

Qui-Gon kept his gaze directed toward the sunset. "Anakin will become a Jedi, I promise you."

Obi-Wan sighed wearily. "Do not defy the Council, Master. Not again."

The older man seemed to go very still, perhaps even to stop breathing, before he turned to his protégé. "I will do what I must, Obi-Wan. Would you have me be any other way?"

"Master, you could be sitting on the Council by now if you would just follow the Code. You deserve to be sitting on the Council," was all Obi-Wan could say as his frustration surfaced in a burst of momentary anger. His eyes sought the other's and held them.

"They will not go along with you this time."

Qui-Gon Jinn studied him a moment, then smiled. "You still have much to learn, my young Padawan."

Obi-Wan bit off his reply and looked away, thinking to himself that Qui-Gon was right, but that maybe this time, he should consider taking his own advice.

As both of them continuously gazed out at the slowly setting sun, little Anakin stood in the exact center of the mosaic circle which adorned the Council chamber floor and ringed by the silent assemblage of the twelve Jedi Masters present, with all eyes on and studying him intently. He felt quite vulnerable and exposed, wishing more than anything else for his mother to be right there beside him, as he somehow sensed that the eyes of the Jedi were not looking _at_ him, but rather… inside him. They then began to question him at great length, testing memory and knowledge, seeking insights at which he could only guess. They knew of his existence as a slave. They knew of his background on Tatooine, of his mother and his friends, of his Podracing, of Watto, of everything factual and past of the order of his life.

Then, after a long moment, Mace Windu picked up a view screen and held it slightly down and away from him, so as to look past it at the little boy while testing him, and Anakin began giving names to images that flashed across it's liquid surface.

Images appeared in Anakin's mind with such speed, he was reminded of the strange blur of desert and mountains whipping past his cockpit during a Podrace.

"A Bantha. A hyperdrive. A proton blaster." The images whizzed through his mind as he named them off. "A Republic cruiser. A Rodian cup. A Hutt speeder."

The screen went blank, and Master Windu looked up at the little boy.

"Good. Good, young one," Yoda praised, appearing rather impressed by the results. His eyes fixed on the child, intent behind their lids. "How feel you?"

"Cold, sir," Anakin confessed.

"Afraid, are you?" Yoda asked.

The little boy shook his head. "No, sir."

"Afraid to give up your life?" Master Windu asked, leaning forward slightly.

"I don't think so," answered Anakin, before hesitating. Something about the answer didn't feel right. "I mean, I don't know, maybe. Whatever. Besides, what has _that_ got to do with anything, anyways?"

Yoda's eyes immediately fixed on him. "Everything," he voiced emphatically. "Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate… leads to suffering."

"I'm not afraid!" the little boy snapped irritably, anxious to leave this discussion and move on.

Yoda did not seem to hear him. "The deepest commitment, a Jedi must have. The most serious mind."

Anakin glanced nervously over at Mace Windu, who lightly stroked his chin, before shifting his gaze back towards Yoda once again.

The Jedi Master exhaled a long drawn-out sigh as he nodded his head in confirmation of his suspicions concerning the little boy's thoughts. "Much fear in you, I sense, young one."

Anakin took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, attempting to clear his mind. When he spoke, his voice was calm again. "I'm not afraid."

Yoda studied him a moment. "Then continue, we will," he said softly. And the examination resumed.

Elsewhere, as the evening sky made it's appearance across the planet, Jar Jar Binks of the Gungans and Queen Amidala of the Naboo stood together at a window that ran from the floor all the way up to the ceiling in the Queen's private chambers, looking out at the gleaming spires of Coruscant. An odd pairing at best, the Queen regal and composed, the Gungan awkward and jittery. They kept company in silence and watched the ever flowing stream of traffic as it moved back and forth at varying levels across the atmosphere.

Jar Jar had grown restless and weary after sometime of being at the Jedi Temple for so long, of which he felt quite rather out of place there. So he decidedly went to go and see what the Queen herself was up to, and to his disappointment, found that what was even going on here…was just as boring, if not more so. And after a very long period of continuously rattling around like a stray Kaadu, Amidala had taken pity on him, and invited him to sit with her, where the two began to talk about each other's lifestyles, beliefs, and various other things, as the two were from vastly different walks of life. And not to mention that they were two entirely different species, even though they were both born and raised on the exact same planet. So, in a way, they did find to have at least one thing in common with each other.

The Queen, her handmaidens, and a handful of her royal guards had all returned from the Republic Senate some hours ago. They had come back principally, because there seemed to be nothing else they could do to change the course of events regarding the future of Naboo.

Senator Palpatine stayed behind to politic with his colleagues over the selection of a new Supreme Chancellor, and Captain Panaka had remained with him, asked by the Queen to bring her news when there was any to offer. None had been forthcoming as yet.

Amidala and Binks were both really quiet for an awfully long while, until finally, Jar Jar could take the eerie silence no longer. He shuffled his feet and cleared his throat, drawing the Queen's attention. She turned to look at him, her face doll-like and expressionless, due to the style of attire that she now donned.

"Yousa tinking yousa people ganna die?" he asked, working his billed mouth around the bitter words as if he could taste them.

The Queen considered the question and shook her head slowly. "I don't know, Jar Jar."

"Gungans get pasted too, eh?"

"I hope not."

Jar Jar promptly straightened, and a fierce pride brightened his eyes. "Gungans no dyin' without a fight. Wesa warriors. Wesa got a grand army."

"An army?" the Queen repeated, a hint of surprise in her soft voice.

"A grand old army, like da Gungans. Deysa come from all over. Dat's why no swamp beings give us trouble. Too many Gungans." He paused, then shrugged uncomfortably. "Dat's why you no liken us, mesa tinks."

Amidala was studying him closely now, her detached gaze replaced by something more intense, as if she were turning an unexpected thought over in her mind.

She was preparing to speak to that thought, the Gungan believed, when Senator Palpatine and Captain Panaka both strode through the doorway in a rush.

"Your Highness," Captain Panaka greeted, barely able to contain his excitement, as both men bowed quickly and straightened. "Senator Palpatine has been nominated to succeed Valorum as the new Supreme Chancellor."

Palpatine's smile was contained and deferential, and his voice carefully modulated as he spoke. "A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one."

The Queen did not look at all impressed as she turned away and moved past Jar Jar towards another window at the opposite end of the room, blankly staring out at the lights of the city as they brightened with the fading of the sunset. She was fully absorbed in her own thoughts as the Senator continued to speak.

"I promise, Your Majesty, if I am elected, I will restore democracy to the Republic, I will put an end to the corruption that has plagued the Senate. The Trade Federation will lose it's influence over the bureaucrats, and our people will be freed from the tyranny of this unlawful and onerous invasion."

Amidala turned back around to look at Captain Panaka directly. "Who else has been nominated?" she asked abruptly, cutting Palpatine short.

"Bail Antilles of Alderaan, and Ainlee Teem of Malastare," Panaka told her, avoiding Palpatine's eyes.

The Senator was quick to recover from the unexpected interruption of a speech. "Your Majesty, I feel confident our situation will create a strong sympathy vote for us." He paused meaningfully. "I will be Chancellor, I promise you."

"I fear by the time you have taken control of the bureaucrats, Senator, there will be nothing left of our cities, our people, or even our way of life to salvage for that matter."

Palpatine looked taken aback. "I understand your concern, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, the Federation has seized possession of our planet. It would be nearly impossible to immediately dislodge them."

"Perhaps." Amidala turned to face him now, her eyes were bright with anger and determination. "With the Senate in transition, there is nothing more I can do here." She walked to where he stood with Panaka. "Senator, this is your arena. I feel I must return now to mine."

Senator Palpatine gave a most puzzled expression at the sound of this. "Your Majesty, I do not understand. What are you talking about?"

"I've decided to go back to Naboo. My place is with my people," she answered. "Valorum has personally arranged for a Republic ship to escort me safely back to our home-planet as soon as possible." Amidala then briefly explained to him of the meeting that had transpired between herself and the soon-to-be former Chancellor.

"Go back?" Palpatine was aghast, his pale face stricken. Panaka looked quickly from one to the other. "But, Your Majesty, be realistic. You will be in great danger. They will force you to sign the treaty."

The Queen was calm and composed. "I will sign no treaty, Senator. My fate will be no different than that of my people." She turned to face Panaka. "Captain."

Panaka instantly snapped to attention. "Your Highness?"

"Contact the ship. Tell them to be ready for immediate departure the moment we arrive."

Palpatine stepped forward quickly to intercept her. "Please, Your Majesty, stay here where it's safe."

Amidala's voice was edged with iron. "No place is safe if the Senate refuses to condemn this invasion. It has become quite clear to me now that the Republic no longer functions." Her eyes locked on his. "If you win the election, Senator, I know you will do everything possible to stop the Federation. And I pray you will find a way to restore sanity and compassion back to the Senate."

She moved past him in a smooth gliding motion and was out the door, her handmaidens and guards ( _including Panaka_ ) at her heels.

Jar Jar Binks followed, shuffling after as unobtrusively as he could manage, glancing just once at Palpatine in passing. He was surprised to catch the barest glimpse of a smile on the Senator's shrewd face.

In the Temple of the Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker stood before the Council of twelve, clustered together at the center of the speaker's platform. They faced the circle of chairs in which the members of the Council were seated, and awaited their decision on the boy.

"Finished, we are, with our examination of the boy," Yoda advised in his guttural whispery voice. "Correct, you were, Qui-Gon."

Mace Windu nodded his concurrence, his dark smooth face expressionless in the dim light. "His cells contain a very high concentration of midi-chlorians." There was an emphasis on the word "very" as he spoke.

"The Force is strong with him," Ki-Adi-Mundi agreed.

Qui-Gon immediately felt a rush of satisfaction on hearing the words. A vindication of his insistence on freeing the boy from his life on Tatooine and bringing him here. "He is to be trained, then," he declared in triumph.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the Council members looked from one to the other.

"No," Mace Windu said quietly. "He will not be trained."

Anakin's face crumpled-up at once, and there were tears in his eyes as he glanced quickly behind and up at Qui-Gon, who towered over him like a Goliath-protector watching over it's young.

"No?!" the Jedi Master repeated in utter disbelief, shocked almost speechless. He tried hard to ignore the "I told you so" look on Obi-Wan's young face.

Mace Windu nodded, his dark eyes steady. "He is too old. There is already too much anger in him."

Qui-Gon was incensed, but he held himself in check. This decision made no sense. It could not be allowed to stand. "He _is_ the Chosen One," he insisted vehemently. "You must see it."

Yoda cocked his round head contemplatively, closing his eyes for a brief moment, before opening them again. "Mmm. Clouded, this boy's future is. Masked by his youth."

Qui-Gon searched the faces of the other members of the Jedi Council, but found no help. He straightened, and nodded his acceptance of their decision. "Very well. I will train him, then." He moved closer to Anakin, gently but firmly placing his strong hands on the little boy's small shoulders. "I take Anakin as my Padawan Learner." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Obi-Wan stiffen in shock. He saw, as well, the sudden flicker of hope that crossed Anakin's face. He did not respond to ether, keeping his gaze directed toward the Council.

"An apprentice, you already have, Qui-Gon," Yoda pointed out sharply. "Impossible to take on a second."

"The Code forbids it," Mace Windu advised darkly.

"Obi-Wan is ready," declared Qui-Gon.

"I am," his protégé agreed heatedly, trying unsuccessfully to mask his surprise and disappointment in his mentor's unexpected decision. "I am ready to face the trials."

Yoda's eyes shifted. "Ready so early, you are? What know you of ready?"

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged quick hard looks, and the measure of their newfound antagonism was palpable. The breach in their relationship was widening so quickly, it could no longer be mapped.

Qui-Gon took a deep breath and turned back to the Council. "Obi-Wan is headstrong, and he has much to learn still about the Living Force, but he is capable. There is little more he will learn from me."

Yoda shook his wizened face. "Our own counsel we will keep on who is ready, Qui-Gon. More to learn, he has."

"Now is not the time for this," Mace Windu stated with finality. "The Senate will vote tomorrow for a new Supreme Chancellor and Queen Amidala is returning home, which will undoubtedly put pressure on the Federation and could widen the confrontation. Those responsible will be quick to act on these new events."

"Drawn out of hiding, her attackers will be," Yoda whispered.

"Events are simply moving too fast for distractions such as this," Ki-Adi-Mundi added.

Mace Windu took a quick look about at the others sitting on the Council, then turned once more to Qui-Gon. "Go with the Queen to Naboo and discover the identity of this dark warrior who attacked you, be it Sith or otherwise, that is the clue we need to unravel this mystery."

Yoda's nod was slow and brooked no argument. "Decided later, young Skywalker's fate will be."

Qui-Gon took a deep breath, filled with frustration and disappointment at the unexpected turn of events. Anakin would not be trained, even though he had offered to take the boy as his Padawan. Worse, he had offended Obi-Wan, not intentionally perhaps, but deeply nevertheless. The rift was not permanent, but it would take time for the younger man's pride to heal, time they could not afford. He bowed his acquiescence to the Council.

"May the Force be with you," Yoda said finally, signalling to the Jedi Master that audience was over.

The three of them, both of the Jedi and the boy, bowed respectfully to the Council before turning to leave the chamber. Upon descending back down the Tower's lift from galaxy holomap level, they exited the tube to promptly discover Anakin's mother and his best friend waiting nearby for them.

"Hey," expressed Shmi with a warm smile on her face the moment Qui-Gon exited the lift.

Qui-Gon merely nodded at her in reply. But it was Anakin's sad and tear-filled expression that immediately grabbed her full attention. She swiftly knelt down on both her knees as the little boy ran towards her, silently collapsing into his mother's waiting and outstretched arms.

"Ani, what's wrong?" she asked gently.

"They won't train me," her son replied in a low voice.

"What?" She pulled back slightly in order to look directly at him. "Why not? Why won't they teach you?"

"Because he's too old," Obi-Wan put in. "Jedi are meant to be trained from infancy. Not from childhood."

Shmi looked up at the young man in horror. " _WHAT!?_ "

Her sudden and completely unexpected outburst immediately caught the attention of everyone within earshot who were close-by.

"What do you mean Jedi are supposed to be trained from infancy? Are you implying that the Jedi kidnap children and take them away from their parents?" she asked rather harshly.

"They aren't kidnapped, as you put it, miss Skywalker. They are simply recruited into the Order for their protection and safety. Without that, any Force-sensitives who are outside of the Order could very much fall to the ways of the Dark Side. That's why Younglings are recruited so early in life. To prevent them from turning over to the Dark Side. Nothing more," Obi-Wan tried to explain as best he could to her.

"Well, to me, that would still be considered kidnapping," she voiced strongly. "You people should really be _ashamed_ of yourselves for committing to an act of doing something so… criminal!"

Obi-Wan looked greatly embarrassed by her outlandish accusation, as did all the other Jedi around, apart from his Master, who overheard her wild claim, which in the minds of the Jedi was absolute lunacy at best. He didn't know or even understand why Qui-Gon had taken the boy's mother, as well as Skywalker's best friend, along with them back to Coruscant to begin with. But he was going to find out.

Meanwhile, Hes was trying to find out from Sirius as to just what and why it was that the Council had adamantly wanted a private meeting him of all people, with very little success. He wondered if this had something to do with little Harry, but Black quickly assured the boy that the meeting had little if nothing to do with his godson. Only that the meeting had much more to do with him alone, but that was as much information as the Padawan could get out of him.

"I'm sorry, Josh. I wish that I could tell you, I really do. But…the Council forbade me to tell anyone about the nature of our discussion in there," Sirius apologized sincerely. "The bloody thing is, I can't even tell Harry about it when he's old enough."

Hes gave Black a very hardened stare as he folded his arms across his chest, surmising to himself of what most likely happened in the Council chamber between Sirius and the Jedi. "Don't tell me that they've considered you for training."

Sirius firmly shook his head. "No, it's not exactly like that," he remarked.

" _Not exactly?_ " asked Hes in surprise. "Sirius, what is going on? What are you _not_ telling me?"

Just then, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and the others from their small group on Tatooine ( _including See-Threepio_ ) gradually walked up to them as they turned to look in the direction of they were coming from. The older Jedi stepped closer toward Hes.

"It's time to leave," he advised.

Hes took a deep break and then exhaled, clearly disappointed as well as frustrated that he wasn't being told _anything_ of what precisely had transpired inside the Council chamber earlier, of which he surely felt he had a right to know. Nodding to Qui-Gon, the Padawan turned his gaze back toward Sirius once more.

"You're not coming?" he asked rhetorically.

Black shook his head. "No. Harry and I will be staying here," he declared.

Turning to follow Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan toward the Temple entrance, Hes promptly stopped and turned to glance behind him when Sirius spoke-up again.

"Josh. Ah, I'm pretty sure this is going to sound quite bizarre and very strange coming from me, but, ah… well…," He tried desperately to find the right way to get around what he wanted to say to the boy, yet couldn't.

Everyone glanced at one another momentarily.

"…may the Force be with you," Sirius blurted out finally. He was most definitely correct about that. It _did_ indeed sound so utterly strange and bizarre to hear himself say something like that. Yet, all he saw was Hes immediately giving him a small smile before nodding in reply.

Upon exiting the Temple, the group then filed into a waiting airbus that was set to take them directly to the landing platform where the Republic shuttle transport was anchored to await Queen Amidala's arrival, along with her handmaidens and guards, as well as the pilots of her now destroyed vessel.

The ride over was marked by a strange silence between two of the three Jedi, and a discomfort in Anakin that could not be dispelled. The little boy glanced down at his feet most of the time, wishing he could think of a way to stop Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan from being angry at each other. When they all disembarked from the airbus at the landing platform, Artoo-Detoo was already bustling about. The little droid beeped at Anakin and Kitster cheerfully, then wandered over to the edge of the ramp-way to look down at the traffic. In doing so, he leaned out too far and tumbled over. Anakin and Kitster both gasped, but a second later the astromech droid reappeared, boosted back onto the ramp-way by his on-board jets, and the two little boys simultaneously breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, at the head of the loading ramp, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were fully engaged in a heated discussion. Anakin and Kitster slowly and carefully edged closer so they could both listen-in to what the two Jedi were saying.

"It's not disrespect, Master," Obi-Wan was saying vehemently. "It's the truth."

Anakin and Kitster looked at each other for a moment, both of them rather confused.

"From your point of view, perhaps." Qui-Gon's face was hard and tight with anger.

The younger Jedi's voice dropped a notch. "The boy is dangerous. They all sense it, why can't you?"

Qui-Gon suddenly turned around to face his Padawan. "His fate is uncertain, but he is _not_ dangerous," he corrected sharply. "The Council will decide Anakin's future. That shall be enough for you." He turned away dismissively. "Now get on-board."

Obi-Wan immediately wheeled away and stalked up the ramp into the ship. Artoo-Detoo followed, still whistling happily.

Both of the children could hardly believe what they had just overheard with their own small ears. Did the Jedi Council really not want Anakin to become a Jedi that badly? What were they so afraid of that they literally had to proclaim that he, a little nine-year-old boy, was dangerous?

Just then, Qui-Gon turned to them, and the two little boys appeared slightly embarrassed as they looked downwards, shuffling their feet on the platform.

"Were you both listening to us just now?" the Jedi Master asked them.

The children nodded uncomfortably in response as Anakin's mother walked over to the three of them.

"Hey. What's going on?" she asked in concern the minute she saw the expressions on the two children's faces.

Qui-Gon told her about the heated argument that he and Obi-Wan had had only moments ago over Anakin's future with the Jedi Order, and Shmi became furious with his apprentice almost instantly when she learned of what Kenobi had said about her son. She desperately felt the strong urge to want to slap that young man across the face for insulting her child like that.

Anakin immediately and unexpectedly piped-up.

"Master Qui-Gon, sir?" he said uncomfortably, riddled with doubt and guilt over what was happening. "I don't want to be a problem."

Qui-Gon placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as the Jedi and Shmi both knelt down to be at eye-level with the two little boys. "You won't be, Ani."

"Oh, sweetie. Whatever made you think you'll be a problem?" Shmi asked her son gently.

Anakin shrugged with uncertainty. "I don't know. Because I overheard what Obi-Wan had said about me, I guess."

Qui-Gon glanced toward the ship before looking at Anakin again. "Forget what you heard, Ani. Obi-Wan still has much to learn." He paused a moment. "Anyways, I'm not allowed to train you. So I want you to watch me instead, and be mindful of what you see. Always remember, your focus determines your reality. Stay close to either me or your mother, and you will be safe."

The boy nodded his understanding, before Qui-Gon turned his gaze to Kitster.

"You stay close too. Understood?" he demanded.

Kitster nodded his head firmly. "Got it," he answered.

At that moment, a pair of shuttles eased up to the loading dock, and Queen Amidala, her handmaidens, Captain Panaka, and an escort of officers and guards disembarked. Last off the second shuttle was Jar Jar Binks.

Qui-Gon and Shmi both rose to their feet as the Queen and her handmaidens approached.

"Your Highness," Qui-Gon greeted with a deferential inclination with his head. "It is our pleasure to continue to serve and protect you."

Amidala nodded. "I welcome your help. Senator Palpatine fears that the Federation means to destroy me."

"I assure you I will not allow that to happen," the Jedi Master advised solemnly.

The Queen turned, and with her handmaidens, followed Panaka and the Naboo guards and officers into the transport.

Jar Jar hurried over and enveloped Anakin in a huge hug as he picked the little boy up. "Wesa goin' ho-o-ome, Ani!" he exclaimed with a grin.

Shmi tried very hard to suppress a laugh as she grinned and shook her head. Anakin, who was looking a bit uncomfortable, hugged the Gungan back.

"That's great, Jar Jar," he choked in a tense voice. "But ease up on the grip, would you? You're squishing me."

Jar Jar instantly put the little boy down and released his tight hold on him, allowing Anakin to breathe again. "Oops. Mesa sorry," he apologized.

Shmi promptly stepped past them towards the ramp of the ship. "Come on, kids. Time to go," she instructed with a soft smile.

Moments later, they were all aboard, and the sleek Republic transport lifted off from the landing platform, speeding away into the night sky, leaving Coruscant behind as it's hyperdrive engines briefly energized, and the shuttle was gone in a flash.


	20. Ch 19 - War Plans

Author's Note: This chapter is **_finally_** up now! Only a few more chapters to go in this installment… hopefully. ( _There WILL be sequels upcoming to this fanfiction!_ ) Sorry that it's been months since I last updated. A lot has been going on lately, and I haven't had the time to post anything new. Post any comments and let me know of any corrections that need to be made.

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 **War Plans**

On Naboo, it was late into the night in the capital city of Theed, the streets empty and silent, safe for the occasional passing of battle droid patrols and the whisper of the wind.

In the Queen's throne room, Nute Gunray and Rune Haako both stood attentively before a hologram of Darth Sidious. The hologram filled the space at one end of the room, rising up before them menacingly. The dark cloaked figure at it's center gestured.

"The Queen is on her way to you," the Sith Lord intoned softly. "When she arrives, force her to sign the treaty."

There was a momentary pause as the Neimoidians exchanged worried looks.

"Yes, My Lord," Nute Gunray agreed reluctantly.

"Viceroy, is the planet secure?" The dark figure in the hologram shimmered with movement.

"Yes, My Lord." Gunray was on a firmer ground here. "We have taken the last pockets of resistance, consisting of mostly primitive life-forms. We are in complete control of the planet now."

The faceless speaker nodded. "Good. I will see to it that in the Senate things stay as they are. I'm sending my apprentice, Darth Maul, to join you. He will deal with the Jedi."

"Yes, My Lord." The words were a litany.

The hologram and Darth Sidious faded away. The Neimoidians stood were they were, frozen in place.

"A Sith Lord, here with us?" Rune Haako whispered in disbelief. And this time, Nute Gunray had nothing to say at all.

Meanwhile, aboard the Republic transport that was coming out of hyperspace and approaching the Naboo star system, Qui-Gon Jinn paused on his way to a meeting with the Queen to study Anakin Skywalker and his friend Kitster Banai. The two little boys stood at the pilot's console in between both the ship's pilot and co-pilot. Both men were bent slightly forward over the controls, pointing each one out in turn and explaining it's function to them.

Anakin was absorbing the information with astonishing quickness, brow furrowed, eyes intense, concentration total. His best friend Kitster on the other hand was having a bit more difficult time of trying to take in and understand the information that was being explained to him.

The Jedi Master sighed as he continued to watch Skywalker from the back of the cockpit. Why was the Council so afraid to take a chance on the boy when the signs were so clear? Qui-Gon found himself frustrated all over again. He understood their thinking. It _was_ bad that Anakin was too old, but not fatal to his chances. What troubled them was not his age, but rather, the conflicts they sensed within him. He was vulnerable to them: fear, anger, uncertainty, as well as many more that resided within him, and the Dark Side would be quick to take full advantage of this.

Qui-Gon shook his head, before taking one last glance at the boy and then turned away toward the lift, descending one level down to an area of the ship which had been specifically setup to act as a substitute for the Queen's chambers. The others whom she had called together for this meeting were already present when he arrived. Obi-Wan gave him a brief neutral nod, standing next to a glowering Captain Panaka. Jar Jar Binks hugged the wall to one side, apparently trying to disappear into it. Amidala's white-painted face was composed, and her gaze was cool as it met his own, but there was fire in the words she spoke next.

"When we land on Naboo…," she advised the Jedi Master after he had bowed and taken up a position next to Panaka, "…it is my intention to act on this invasion at once. My people have suffered enough."

Panaka could barely contain himself, his dark face tight with anger. "As soon as we land, Your Highness, the Trade Federation will arrest you and force you to sign their treaty."

Qui-Gon nodded thoughtfully, curious as to the Queen's thinking. "I agree. I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by this."

Amidala might have been carved from stone. "I will take back what is ours."

"There are too few of us!" Panaka snapped, unable to keep silent. " _Your Highness…,_ " he added blatantly, " _…we have no army._ "

The Queen's eyes shifted to Qui-Gon.

"And I can only protect you," he advised. "I can't fight a war for you."

Amidala let her gaze drift from them to settle on Jar Jar. The Gungan was studying his toes. "Jar Jar Binks," she called.

Jar Jar, clearly caught off guard, stiffened. "Mesa, Your Highness?"

"Yes," the Queen of the Naboo affirmed. "I am in need of your help."

Everyone aboard the Republic shuttle grew increasingly tense as they neared Naboo, but when they finally came within sight of the planet, no Trade Federation ships hung between either them or it.

"The blockade is gone!" Captain Panaka said in surprise, peering out of the cockpit viewport.

The shuttle pilot looked over at one of the sensors on his control panel. "I have one battleship on my scope," he announced.

Obi-Wan, who was standing nearest to the co-pilot, glanced over at the display and nodded. "It's a droid control ship."

"They've probably spotted us," said Panaka, and his expression grew more worried.

"We haven't much time," Obi-Wan agreed as he looked out the viewport at planet directly ahead.

As the Republic shuttle made it's way down towards the Naboo swamplands, the two pilots eyed a clearing of trees which left a space that was just big enough for the transport to land in. Once the shuttle had touched down, and the boarding ramp lowered, Jar Jar Binks went off in the direction of the nearby lake that bored downward straight to the Gungan capital city of Otoh Gunga, where he was going to try and inform the Gungan people that the Naboo wanted to forge an alliance with the underwater race of beings, as instructed to him by the Queen herself.

While waiting for Binks' return, Obi-Wan went looking for Qui-Gon, because during the voyage, there had been some coldness between them due to the argument on Coruscant. Very likely they would soon be in the middle of a war, and so, Obi-Wan wanted to talk with his Master while he still had the chance. He found his mentor staring out over the lake, as if he were waiting for the Gungan bosses to emerge from underneath the water at any moment.

"Jar Jar is on his way to the Gungan city, Master," Obi-Wan said a little uncertainly.

Qui-Gon nodded absently. "Good."

"Do you think the Queen's idea will work?" inquired Obi-Wan.

"The Gungans will not be easily swayed," Qui-Gon answered, momentarily giving Obi-Wan a stern look, before turning his gaze back toward the lake. "And we cannot use our power to help her."

Obi-Wan hesitated a moment before speaking up again. "I-I'm sorry for my behavior, Master," he began. "It was not my place to disagree with you about the boy."

For a long moment, Qui-Gon turned to look at him as Obi-Wan gazed up at his Master in turn.

"And…I am grateful that you think I am ready for the trials," he continued.

Qui-Gon smiled. "You've been a good apprentice, Obi-Wan," he proudly expressed, placing a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "And you're a much wiser man than I am. I foresee you will become a great Jedi Knight."

"If I do, it will be because of what you have taught me," Obi-Wan replied.

A few minutes later, as the two Jedi walked back to rejoin the others who were now all grouped together at the water's edge, the surface of the lake bubbled briefly. Jar Jar emerged from under the water and shook himself off to get dry, his large ears flapping about as he did so. The Gungan then went to join everyone who were waiting nearby.

"Desa nobody dare," Jar Jar said, a look of confusion on his face. "The Gungan city is deserted. Some kinda fight, mesa tinks."

"Do you think they have been taken to the camps?" asked Obi-Wan, both him and Qui-Gon looking at each other in bewilderment.

"More likely they were wiped out," Captain Panaka noted.

"Mesa no tink so," Jar Jar said. "Gungans hiden."

"You know where they are, Jar Jar?" Qui-Gon asked.

Binks nodded. "When in trouble, Gungans go to sacred place," he asserted. "Mesa show you. Come on. Mesa show you!"

The young Gungan immediately started off into the swamp. Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon who shrugged and followed him. Everyone else in the group turned in the direction of where the Gungan and the Jedi were going to accompany them. They traversed the swamp for sometime, first skirting the lake, then plunging deep into a forest of massive trees and tall grasses, following a water-streamed pathway that connected a series of nulls.

Somewhere off in the distance, a patrol of Trade Federation STAPs ( _Single Trooper Aerial Platforms_ ) buzzed and whined as a search for the transport fugitives commenced in earnest.

Jar Jar glanced about apprehensively as he picked his way through the mire, but did not slow. Finally, the group emerged into a clearing of marshy grasses and stands of trees with roots tangled so thickly, they formed what appeared to be an impassable hedge. Binks stopped, sniffed the air speculatively, and nodded.

"Dissen it," he said, and made an odd chattering noise through his billed mouth, the sound echoing eerily in the silence.

The group waited nervously, all eyes searching the misty gloom. Suddenly, a scouting party of Gungan guards materialized out of the haze, riding atop creatures like giant wingless birds known as Kaadu, with electropoles and energy spears held at the ready. Herding them together, the Gungan guards providing a perimeter escort on all sides, they promptly took the company deeper into the swamp, to the ruins of a huge building.

Massive heads, carved out of stone, stood among the ruins. Everything was half-buried in weeds and muck, while some of the heads had sunk up to their eyes in the swamp. The canopy formed by the limbs of the trees became so thick to the point that the sky and the sun almost seemed to disappear. Bits and pieces of statuary began to surface, crumbling stone facades, and plinth sinking into the mire. Vines snaked their way across the broken remains, dropping down from limbs that twisted and wound together in vast wooden nets.

Pushing through a high stand of saw-grass, the Gungan lead assemblage arrived in a clearing filled with other Gungan refugees: men, women, and children of all ages and descriptions, huddled together on a broad dry rise, many with their possessions gathered around them. The guards lead the company passed the refugees to where the ruins of what had once been a grand temple were slowly being reclaimed by the swamp.

At the far end of the ruins, the Gungan leader known as Boss Nass appeared, lumbering out of the shadows with several more similarly-dressed Gungans to stand atop a stone head that was partially submerged in the murky water. Amidala and her retinue approached to within hailing distance over a network of causeways and islands.

"I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo," the Queen voiced to the surrounding Gungans, but most notably to their leader. "I come before you in peace."

The head Gungan snorted. "Ah, Naboo biggen!" he thundered as a heavy arm lifted, pointing accusingly at the Queen. "Yousa bringen da Mackineeks. Yousa all bombad."

Anakin and Kitster suddenly noticed that they were being completely surrounded by Gungan guards, some riding atop of Kaadu, some on foot, all with electropoles, energy spears, and some type of throwing devices aimed at them, ready to attack. Both children glanced worriedly at each other as Shmi huddled them close to her.

Hes rested his hand firmly on the hilt of his lightsaber, ready to ignite it and defend the others in case things got ugly fast.

Captain Panaka looked around nervously, but Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were still relaxed, though.

The Queen seemed as uneasy as Panaka was, but she continued, "We have searched you out, because we wish to form an alliance-"

" _Your Honor!_ "

Anakin's head immediately whipped around. ' _That was Padmé!_ ' he thought. ' _Why is she interrupting the Queen?_ '

Close beside both him and Kitster, Artoo-Detoo beeped softly in recognition. The little astromech droid had figured it out first.

Detaching herself from the other handmaidens, Padmé stepped forward and stood before the Gungan leader. She momentarily turned to face the Queen, saying something to her in a low soft voice that neither the Jedi nor Anakin could make out, before turning back to face Boss Nass again.

"Whosa dis?" Boss Nass snapped.

Padmé straightened. "I am Queen Amidala," she announced in a loud clear voice. She turned to look behind her at the royally dressed girl briefly and went on, "Sabé serves from time to time as my decoy, my protection, my loyal bodyguard. I'm sorry for my deception, but given the circumstances, I'm sure you can understand that it was necessary to protect myself."

As Padmé continued to speak, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan glanced at each other, the expression on Qui-Gon's face turning to one of total and absolute embarrassment at this revelation, while Hes on the other hand looked to be virtually sick as though he were about to throw-up. Anakin and Kitster both stared open-mouthed at Padmé in utter shock and disbelief. But it was Anakin who was far more visibly shaken than his friend was at this stunning divulgence.

' _Padmé is the Queen?_ ' the little boy thought to himself. ' _She can't be the Queen!_ '

He was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts as he felt a gentle but firm hand lightly come to rest on his small shoulder. He looked around to see everyone in the group simultaneously drop to their knees before the Gungan leader, and softly heard the whisper of his name coming from directly behind him by his mother, thus prodding him to do the same. He then heard Padmé's soft voice once more.

"Our fate is in your hands. Please…help us," she implored calmly, but also desperately.

For an extended moment, no one said anything. Then, as Anakin looked up over at Qui-Gon rather curiously, wondering just what exactly was going to happen next, he immediately shifted his head back in the direction of Boss Nass as a slow deep rumble of laughter rose out of the throat of the Gungan leader.

"Yousa no tinken yousa greater den da Gungans?" The head Gungan then came forward slightly, reaching out with one hand. "Yousa stand, Queen Amidala, and wesa talk," he insisted. "Maybe wesa bein friends after all."

The senior Sith Lord appeared in a shimmer of robes and shadows as his protégé and the Neimoidians walked slowly down the corridor, leaning from the throne room back to the plaza.

"We have sent out patrols," Nute Gunray said, concluding his report to the ominous figure in the projection. "We have already located their starship in the swamp. It won't be long until we have them in hand, My Lord."

Darth Sidious was silent. For a moment, Nute Gunray was afraid that he hadn't been heard.

"This is an unexpected move for the Queen," the Sith Lord said at last, his voice so low it could barely be heard. "It's too aggressive." His hooded gaze shifted ever so slightly toward his apprentice, his hands folding into black robes. "Lord Maul, be mindful. Let them make the first move."

"Yes, my Master," the Zabrak growled softly, his yellow eyes gleaming.

"Be patient," Darth Sidious purred. "Soon, you will have your revenge."

In silence, Darth Maul and the Neimoidians continued on as the hologram slowly faded away.

Boss Nass was as mercurial as he was large, and his change of attitude towards the Naboo was dramatic. Once he decided that the Queen did not consider herself his superior, that she was in fact quite sincere in her plea for Gungan help, he was quick to come around. The fact that his dislike of the battle droids was every bit as strong as hers didn't hurt matters, of course. Perhaps he had been hasty in his belief that the Mackineeks wouldn't find the Gungans in the swamps.

Otoh Gunga had been attacked at daybreak just two days earlier, and it's inhabitants driven from their homes. Boss Nass was not about to sit still for that. If a plan could be put together to drive the invaders out, the Gungan army would do it's part to help.

The Gungan leader took Amidala and her companions out of the swamp to the edge of the grass plains that ran south to the Naboo capital city of Theed. Any attack would be mounted from here, and the Queen had come to the Gungans with a very specific plan of attack in mind. The first step in that plan involved sending Captain Panaka and a reconnaissance of the city. As they stood looking out from the misty confines of the swamp toward the open grasslands, waiting for Panaka's return, Hes quietly broke away from the others and went over to a secluded area where he would not be seen or heard by anyone.

Reaching into his robes, Starrgazer took out a small holorecorder, which he had secretly placed hidden in the Council chambers just as both Master Yoda and Sirius Black made their way inside, and activated it. He had promptly retrieved the unit shortly before leaving the Jedi Temple with Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and everyone else in their small group. And he did so, all without anyone even noticing a thing.

As he watched the playback feed on the holorecorder, Hes' mouth suddenly gaped open for a brief moment at what he was listening to from the audio portion in the hologram, regarding what the Council members were discussing, both amongst themselves, but also what they were saying to Sirius Black as well. His expression then slowly shifted to one of anger as his eyes just slightly narrowed and his fingers idly curled-up into a very tight fist with his free hand.

 _"What do you say, Mr. Black? Will you accept our terms?" Mace Windu asked, after they had finished._

 _Sirius looked unsure for a minute before speaking directly to the leading Council members. "So, let me get this straight, you're offering to teach me how to use the "Force" as you call it, in return for me aiding you in helping to track down and catch highly-dangerous criminals and, what was it… Dark Side users?"_

 _Master Yoda nodded solemnly at him. "Yes. Seen how powerful you are with the Force, we have."_

 _Master Windu leaned forward slightly in his chair. "After witnessing your abilities first-hand with Metamorphosis earlier, we've felt it necessary to make an exception. Your potential in the Force is rather quite impressive."_

 _"Traditionally, the Jedi do not except an adult for training in the ways of the Force. But this is a special case, even though you won't be made an official member of our Order. You still however will be of a great help to both us, and more importantly, to the Republic itself in some capacity also," Ki-Adi-Mundi added._

 _"But I already know quite a whole lot of Magic, and-" Sirius started to comment, before Master Windu abruptly cut him short._

 _"Excuse me, Mr. Black, but what you refer to as being Magic is only an illusion," he voiced firmly._

 _Sirius appeared rather puzzled upon hearing that. "What do you mean? An illusion? I don't quite understand."_

 _Yoda then began to explain to him that what Sirius purely thought of as being "Magic" was really just a catch-all term used to refer to any number of different supernatural methods and/or techniques by which someone such as Black could in fact both access and use the power of the Force itself._

As the Council meeting soon came to an end, with the device still recording long after it's conclusion, Hes' fingers curled slowly around the holorecorder, instantly crushing it into tiny little pieces within his palm, instead of simply switching the unit off. The young Padawan Learner was most deeply incensed by this turn of events. Not only had Sirius Black lied to him, but the Jedi Council itself had also effectively done so, too. And all the while behind his back no-less. This was completely unwarranted, not to mention downright hypocritical. Starrgazer…had heard enough!

Meanwhile, both Anakin and his best friend Kitster, along with Jar Jar Binks, were all quite happily playing a game of hide-and-seek together among the many trees only but a short distance away from the rest of the group, especially since Shmi had very clearly instructed the three of them not to wander-off too far into the woods.

As they continually frolicked about, little Kitster all of sudden could faintly hear something nearby that sounded almost like it was someone shouting. He moved in a little bit closer towards the direction of where the noise was coming from, until he could just make out the distinct sound of two male voices arguing with each other. One was clearly that of a young boy, while the other was most assuredly a man's voice. Coming around a corner, Banai slowly and cautiously peeked his head out from behind a narrow tree, just enough to catch a glimpse of what was going on between them, as well as find out exactly who the two individuals were.

' _That's Hes,_ ' the little boy quietly surmised as he observed one of the two characters nearby, the other of whom was really a holographic transmission that Starrgazer was speaking with. ' _Who's that he's talking to? I think I've seen him before._ '

"Josh, I'm sorry for what I did, and I know it was wrong, but you must understand that-" the man was trying to explain, before being abruptly cut off.

"You lied to me!" Hes spat quite bitterly in a cold low tone of voice, as he pointed an accusing finger at the man with long wavy black hair, "How many other lies have I been told by the Council?" the Padawan conveyed more to himself than to his contact. Starrgazer then started to turn away from the man as he slowly lowered his head, looking rather downcast, before Hes suddenly turned back around to look at him directly, accusingly pointing his finger at him once more. "And another thing, Sirius, how do you even know that you have the whole truth of what they're saying?"

Kitster all of a sudden began to faintly hear Anakin's small voice loudly calling out his name from a distance. Continuing to watch both Hes and " _Sirius_ " for just a moment longer, the little boy then turned and ran back to where his friend was repeatedly hailing him from, once or twice threatening to tell on him that he'd seemingly wandered off all on his own, especially since Shmi had specifically warned all three of them not to.

"There you are," said Anakin, sounding very relieved. "Where'd you go off to? I didn't see you anywhere."

"Sorry, Ani," Kitster apologized to his best friend. "But I overheard Hes talking with someone over there behind those trees." He turned and pointed in the general direction from where he had just come.

After a few minutes, the two friends, plus Jar Jar, casually made their way back through the stands of trees toward the large gathering of both the Naboo and Gungans, as well as the Jedi. Padmé was in conference with them, which included Boss Nass and his generals, once Captain Panaka had returned along with several dozen Naboo soldiers, officers, and starfighter pilots in tow.

Steadily approaching the crowd, the three youths gently nudged their way through into the center of the flock. There, Anakin saw Padmé speaking with Captain Panaka concerning the plans to take back the capital city of Theed. He was still trying to come to terms with her revelation that she was in fact the real Queen of the Naboo. Almost everyone had been surprised of course, but no one more than he. He wasn't sure how he felt about her now, knowing that she wasn't just a girl, but a Queen. He wanted to talk to her, but there wasn't any opportunity for that here. He supposed that things wouldn't be the same after this, but he wished that they could.

Glancing up slowly at her from his thoughts, he saw that Padmé had in fact noticed him there, as she had given him a wink and smiled sweetly at the little boy, before turning her full attention back to Panaka, the Jedi, and Boss Nass.

"Good," replied Amidala, as she was clearly listening to what the captain was telling her, while looking down at Anakin. She turned her head and nodded appreciatively toward Boss Nass. "The Gungans have a much larger army than we imagined."

"Very, very, bombad," the Gungan chief rumbled.

Panaka exhaled wearily. "You'll need it. The Federation army's also much larger than we thought, too. And much stronger." He gave the Queen a considering look. "Your Highness, in my opinion, this is a battle I do not think that we can win."

Standing next to Anakin and Kitster at the edge of the circle, Jar Jar looked down at the two little boys and rolled his eyes despairingly. But Padmé was undeterred.

"I don't intend to win it, Captain," she stated firmly. "The battle is a diversion. We need the Gungans to draw the droid army away from the cities." She glanced down at the little astromech droid. "Artoo."

The astromech beeped and immediately activated his holoprojector and a shimmering image of the Theed capital appeared on the surface of the speeder which they were all crowded around. The hologram then promptly enlarged, focusing in on a specific area near-to where the palace was located.

"We can enter the city using the secret passages on the waterfall side," Padmé devised as a red line zigzagged throughout the city and the palace in the hologram, thus illustrating her strategic plan for everyone to see. "Once we get to the main entrance, Captain Panaka and a squad of officers will create a diversion, so that we can then enter the palace and capture the Viceroy."

She looked back to Panaka once the hologram had flickered out of existence. "Without the Viceroy to command the droid army, they will be lost and confused." As she waited for them to consider the plan, her eyes automatically fixed on Qui-Gon Jinn. "What do you think, Master Jedi?"

"It is a well-conceived plan," Qui-Gon acknowledged. "It appears to be you're best possible move, Your Highness. Although, there is a great risk. Even with the droid army in the field, the Viceroy will be well-guarded, and many of the Gungans might be killed."

Boss Nass snorted derisively. "Wesa ready to do our-san part."

Amidala stood where she was for a brief moment in time, thinking to herself. She then steadily looked around at the assembled masses as she spoke. "We could reduce the Gungan casualties by securing the main hangar and sending what pilots we have to destroy their orbiting control ship. Without the control ship to signal them, the droid army will be completely immobilized and unable to function at all."

Everyone unanimously nodded in agreement, including Hes, who had silently strode up to the whole lot without anyone even noticing him.

"But if the Viceroy should escape, Your Highness…," Obi-Wan pointed out darkly, "…he will surely return with another droid army, and you will be no better off than you are now."

"Well, that is why we must not fail to capture the Viceroy," she responded with a minor hint of inexorable resolution to her voice. "Everything depends upon it."

Artoo let out a few small deeps and whistles as Anakin and Kitster both glanced at each other a bit nervously, before looking up at Shmi, who glanced down at them and gave a reassuring smile, letting them know that they were all going to make it through this.

Meanwhile, in the Theed palace throne room, Darth Sidious loomed menacingly in hologram-form before his apprentice, Darth Maul, and the Neimoidians. Smooth and silky, his voice oozed through the shadowy ether.

"Our young Queen surprises me," he whispered thoughtfully, hidden within his dark robes. "She's more foolish than I thought."

"We are sending all available troops to meet this army of her's that is assembling in the swamp," Nute Gunray offered quickly. "It appears to be made up of primitives. Nothing better. We do not expect much resistance."

Darth Maul glared at nothing, then shook his horned head. "I feel there is more to this than what we know, my Master. The Jedi may be using the Queen for their own purposes."

"The Jedi cannot become involved," Darth Sidious soothed, his hand spreading in a place-aiding motion. "They can only protect the Queen. This will work to our advantage."

Darth Maul snorted, anxious to get on with it.

"I have your approval to proceed, then, My Lord?" Nute Gunray asked hesitantly, avoiding the younger Sith's mad eyes.

"Proceed, Viceroy," Darth Sidious order softly. "Wipe them out. All of them."


	21. Ch 20 - The Battle

Author's Note: This extensively _looonnnggg_ chapter is finally completed. All that is left to do now is to write out the epilogue, and then… I'm done with writing this first installment. I think I will take a break from posting anything new for a long while, but I won't stop writing, though. Please let me know of any writing errors within this chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

 **The Battle**

By midday, with the sun overhead in a cloudless sky, and the wind died away to nothing, the grasslands that lined south of Theed between the Naboo capital city and the Gungan swamp lay empty and still. Heat rose off the grasslands in a soft shimmer, and it was so quiet that from a hundred meters away, the chirping of birds, as well as the buzzing of insects could distinctly be heard, as if they were settled close by.

The Trade Federation army's bubble-nosed transports and armor-wrapped tanks suddenly roared onto the rolling meadows and hills, slowly skimming the tall grasses in gleaming waves of bright metal.

It was quiet in the swamps as well. The perpetual twilight hushed and expectant beneath a vast canopy of limbs and vines. The surface of the mire as smooth and unbroken as glass. The reeds and rushes motionless in the windless air. Here and there, a water-bug jumped soundlessly from place to place, stirring puddles to life in the wake of it's passing, and bending blades of grass like springboards. Birds swooped and banked in bright flashes of color, darting from limb to limb. Small animals crept from their places of cover to both drink and feed, their eyes bright, noses twitching, and senses alert.

Almost immediately, the Gungan army surfaced in a rippling of murky water and a stream of bubbles, their lop-eared heads popping-up like corks. First one, then another, until finally hundreds, and then eventually…thousands.

Both from the plain, and in the swamp, the small animals raced back into hiding. The birds took wing, and the insects went to ground.

Astide their Kaadu, the Gungans rode from their concealment with armor strapped to their amphibious bodies and weapons held at the ready. They carried long hafted energy spears and metal-handled ball slings for long-distance fighting, as well as energy shields for close combat.

The Kaadu shook themselves as they reached dry ground, shedding the swamp water from their smooth skins, eyes picking up the solid patches of ground as their riders urged them on.

Numbers swelling as they reached the fringes of the swamp, the Gungans began to form-up in ranks of riders that stretched away as far as the eye could see. As the first way rode clear, the swamp boiled anew with the appearance of Fambaa: huge four-legged lizards with long necks and tails, and massive scaly bodies. The Fambaa bore shield generators atop their broad backs, machines that when linked, would activate a force-field to protect the Gungan soldiers against Trade Federation weaponry.

Slowly, steadily, the Gungan army cleared the tangle of the swamps, and moved out onto the open grasslands where the Trade Federation army was already waiting.

Anakin and Kitster both hunkered down in the shadows of a building directly across from the main hangar of the Naboo starfleet in the capital city of Theed. It was quiet here also. The bulk of the battle droids had dispatched a short while ago to the field to deal with the Gungan army, while the remainder scattered throughout the city in constant patrols and on a tight perimeter-watch.

Nevertheless, tanks crowded the plaza fronting the hangar complex, and a strong contingent of battle droids warded the Naboo fleet. Seizing control of the starfighters was not going to be easy.

Anakin glanced over at those with him. Padmé, dressed as a handmaiden, crouched with Eirtaé beside the Jedi, waiting for Captain Panaka's command to get into position on the other side of the square. Sabé, the decoy Queen, and her handmaidens wore battledress: loose-fitting and durable with blasters strapped to their sides.

Artoo-Detoo blinked silently from behind them in the company of twenty-odd Naboo officers, guards, and pilots, all of them armed and ready. See-Threepio had wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of this, and had adamantly requested to stay on the ship from which they had arrived on. And the group had all agreed, since it was their initial plan to begin with, and also because there was no need or even use for a half-built protocol droid in this current situation.

Promptly coming over to, and kneeling down in front of the two little boys, Qui-Gon looked sternly into the eyes of both Anakin and Kitster. "Once we get inside, you both find a safe place to hide until this is over," he advised them.

"Sure," the children promised together simultaneously.

"And stay there," the Jedi Master added firmly with a gesture.

Across the way, Panaka and his contingent of fighters were in position now, placing the tanks and battle droids in a crossfire with Padmé's group. Seeing him just across from her and her company on the other side of the street, Padmé reached inside her robes and retrieved a signaling unit and flashed a coded signal to him on the other side of the square.

All around the two little boys, weapons were slid free from their holsters and fastenings, and their safeties were released, ready for combat.

Suddenly, Jar Jar Binks stumbled clumsily off his feet with a loud yell as he tried to get in closer toward little Anakin and Kitster from where he was crouched down behind a nearby column, and all because he was curious and wanted to get a better look at what was about to happen.

Hes immediately rolled his eyes, letting out a quiet sigh of exasperation as he let his head slump down. He knew precisely what was coming next, well even before the battle droids and tanks detected the loud outcry from the stupid Gungan and turned in his direction. _Of all the idiotic and poignant suggestions, why did they have to bring that lop-eared imbecile along with them? All because Qui-Gon allowed it, and because the Gungans didn't want Binks with them on the battlefield since he was still considered to be nothing more than an utter embarrassment? And also due to that trivial life-debt he owed to the Jedi Master no-less._

"Over there!" one of the droids called out, prompting all of the others in the patrol to turn on the Gungan. "Yaaaaaaahhhhh‼"

The droid suddenly flew backwards through the air off it's feet for several meters as everyone in Padmé's team momentarily looked over at young Skywalker in absolute surprise and disbelief at what they had all just witnessed. Even Qui-Gon Jinn himself was briefly in shock over what he had seen. But none of them were as quite flabbergasted or awestruck as Shmi Skywalker herself.

Without even so much as a single thought as to what he was doing, little Anakin instantly rushed slightly forward a number of paces out into the wide-open square from where he was hiding in the shadows, and Force Pushed the battle droid away with both hands thrust out in front of him before it could fire off even one shot from it's blaster at the Gungan.

"Oh, crap," the Padawan Learner exhaled aloud to himself, knowing fully what was about to happen.

"Fire!" shouted a commander droid, and the entire patrol of battle droids opened-up directly at the nine-year-old little boy. Everyone looked on with pure horror on their faces, and then in absolute shock and utter disbelief as all of the oncoming blaster fire instantaneously stopped dead in the air, held in place to within just a few inches of hitting young Skywalker, all be it by the outstretched arm of Hes, who with his palm raised out in front of him and his fingers loosely spread apart, had immediately harnessed Force Speed and zip-lined over to save Anakin from being killed.

Starrgazer tilted his head to glance behind him at the others for a quick moment. "GO!"

Panaka wasted no time in reacting. "Open fire!" he commanded, and his fighters instantly opened-up on the battle droids, with blasters shattering their metal bodies in a hail of laser fire, all while an armed Naboo landspeeder began firing at the tanks, destroying them. Other droids wheeled about in response, and began exchanging fire, drawn toward the source of the conflict and away from Padmé and the others in her group.

"Anakin!" Qui-Gon shouted, and a moment later, the little boy ran back towards the group as Padmé, Eirtaé, Artoo-Detoo, and their Naboo contingent of soldiers and pilots all made their way toward the slowly opening doors of the hangar-bay.

Jar Jar looked around in a panic as he got to his feet. Turning right around, he immediately saw Anakin, Kitster, the Jedi, Artoo-Detoo, and everyone else from Padmé's team entering through the hangar-bay doors, and instantly ran rather gracelessly after them yelling, "Hey, wait! Wait for mesa!"

Hes promptly dropped backwards flat to the ground in an ultra limbo-like position for a split second with his feet tucked underneath his legs as the wave of stalled blaster bolts flew overhead and impacted against the walls of buildings in a burst of sparks and flame, before igniting his lightsaber and leaping off his feet high into the air in a forward somersault and then landing successfully as he spun his body a full three-sixty degrees, slicing several battle droids cleanly in half with his weapon, all with a single fluid and graceful motion.

The Gungan army was spread out all along the grasslands for as far as the eye could see. Bird-like, the Kaadu picked their way through the tall grasses, their heads dipping, and their Gungan riders swaying with the motion. The Gungans wore leather and metal headgear and body armor, with small circular shields strapped at their hips. The Fambaa, bearing the shield generators, were spaced evenly down their lines to achieve maximum protection once the generators were activated. Like tanks, the massive lizards lumbered amidst the more nimble Kaadu, and the grasslands shook with the weight of their passing.

At the head of the army rode General Tobler Ceel and his command unit, the flags of Otoh Gunga and the other Gungan cities borne in their wake at the end of the long poles. The army crested a rise, a great rolling wave of dark bodies, and on a hand signal from General Ceel, drew to a halt. Across a long shallow depression, it's position secure on the next ridge over, the Trade Federation army waited. Lines of STAPs and tanks formed the first rank, spread out over a distance of more than a kilometer, their armor-plating and weapons gleaming in the midday sun. But trussing the smaller vehicles were the huge Federation transports: massive bodies hovering just off the ground, their bulbous-nose gates closed, and pointed forward toward the Gungans.

Battle droids controlled tanks and STAPs: faceless and empty metal shells, impervious to pain, devoid of emotion, and programmed to fight until completely destroyed.

The Fambaa were all in place now, and General Ceel activated the shield generators. The big turbines hummed to life, and a pulse of red light arched from a generator atop one Fambaa to a dish atop the next, the beam widening and broadening as it grew in size to encompass the whole of the Gungan army until each soldier and Kaadu was safely enfolded. The coloring of the protective light changed from red to gold, shimmering like a mirage on a desert. The effect was to make it appear as if the Gungan army was under water, as if it _had_ been swallowed-up in a bright crystal-clear sea.

The Federation was quick to test the shield's effectiveness on a signal from one of the commander droids, who in turn was responding to a command from the deep space control center. The tanks opened fire, their heavy laser cannons sending round after round into the protective covering. Searing beams hammered into the shield and shattered ineffectively against the liquid energy surface, unable to penetrate it.

With their protective covering, the Gungans waited patiently, their weapons ready, trussing the strength of their shield.

Relentlessly, the Trade Federation cannons continued their attack, streamers of energy lancing from their barrel mounts, pounding at the covering. The flash, and burn, and explosion were blinding and deafening, but the Gungans held their ground.

Finally, the Trade Federation guns went still. Try as they might, they could not break through the Gungan energy shield.

Within their protective canopy, the Gungans cheered and brandished their weapons triumphantly. But now, the tanks and STAPs withdrew, and the massive transports advanced to the forefront. The rounded-nose doors opened, widening to reveal a cluster of racks mounted within. The racks rolled forward on long rails, revealing row after row of battle droids neatly folded up and suspended on hooks. When the racks were finally extended, they began to lower and separate outward, filling the open space in front of the transports with thousands upon thousands of droids.

Positioned at the forefront of their army, General Ceel and his Gungan commanders exchanged worried looks. Ceel himself swallowed hard as he stared ahead in shock at the massive mechanical army, freely vocalizing aloud to himself the only thought that came to mind.

"Ouch time."

Now the racks began to release the battle droids, who unfolded in unison into standing positions, their arms and legs extended, and their bodies straight. Their metal hands reached back behind them, over their shoulders to pull free the blaster rifles, with which each unit was equipped. On command, the battle droids then began to march toward the Gungan army: bright metal ranks filling the grasslands from horizon to horizon.

The Gungan shield wall was designed to deflect large slow-moving objects of density and mass such as artillery vehicles, and small, fast-moving objects generating extreme heat, such as projectiles from weapons fire. But it would not deflect against small slow-moving droids, even massed together in such numbers, as they were here.

All up and down their lines, the Gungans activated their energy spears and straight-handled slings, arming them for the attack.

At the foot of the rise on which they waited, the front ranks of the battle droids reached the perimeter of the energy field and began to pass through it with ease. The shield had no effect on them. Lifting their blaster rifles to their shoulders, they began to fire.

Amid a wail of great curved battle-horns, the Gungans retaliated. A shower of spears rained down on the advancing droids, their shafts and points exploding on impact, ripping metal limbs and torsos apart. Energy balls that were flung from the slings followed, inflicting further damage. Mortars dumped their loads into the very center of the droid ranks, thus opening up huge gaps in the attack. The battle droids reeled and slowed, then regained momentum and came on, hundreds more immediately taking the place of those who had fallen, marching mindlessly through the protective shield and into the range of the Gungan weapons.

At the center of his command unit, General Ceel urged his warriors on, tightening his defensive lines in front of the Fambaa and the shield generators to protect them from harm, knowing that if the force-field came down, the Trade Federation's tanks would strike the Gungans as well.

Battle droid ranks: metal parts reflecting sun and fire, and Gungan lines: orange-skinned and subtle, closed to do battle.

Meanwhile, in the relative seclusion of the Theed palace throne room, in a place that they had believed to be safe from any real danger, Viceroy Nute Gunray and Rune Haako stared at a giant viewscreen and it's rapidly changing images of the battle that was currently taking place within the main hangar. The Jedi Knights were now inside the complex, who were in turn accompanied by Naboo soldiers and pilots, their lightsabers reeking havoc on the battle droids who tried to stop them.

"How did they get into the city?" Rune Haako whispered in dismay.

Nute Gunray shook his head. "I don't know. I thought the battle was going to take place far from here." His eyes were wide and staring. "This is too close."

They turned as one when Darth Maul stalked into the room, bearing a long-handled lightsaber. Yellow eyes gleamed out of the Sith's red and black tattooed face, and his dark cloak billowed out behind him.

Nute Gunray and Rune Haako backed away instinctively, nether of them wanting to get in the way.

"Lord Maul," Gunray greeted, inclining his head briefly.

Darth Maul glanced at him disdainfully. "I told you there was more to this than was apparent." His eyes had a wild manic look to them. "The Jedi have come here for a reason, Viceroy. They have a plan of their own for defeating us."

"A plan?" the Neimoidian asked worriedly.

"One that will fail, I assure you." The striped face glinted wickedly in the light. "I have waited a long time for this. I have trained for it endlessly. The Jedi will regret their decision to return here."

There was an edge to his rough voice that was frightening. The Sith was most anxious for this confrontation: his body coiled and ready, his hands flexing about his weapon. The Neimoidians did not envy those he sought.

"Wait here until I return," he ordered abruptly, and swept past them.

"Where are _you_ going!?" Nute Gunray demanded frantically, as the Sith Lord crossed over toward the speeder docks.

"Where do you think I'm going, Viceroy?" the other sneered. "I'm going to the main hangar to rid you of the Jedi… once and for all."

Anakin Skywalker and Kitster Banai both rushed through the open doors of the main hangar, just a few steps ahead of the Jedi and Padmé, with Artoo-Detoo, Shmi Skywalker, and all the rest of the Naboo freedom-fighters on their heels, while Jar Jar Binks scrambled wildly towards the open doorway from far behind them at the rear as he flailed his arms about in a frenzied state of panic while screaming cowardly. The battle droids within the hangar turned to confront the whole lot, but lightsabers and blasters had instantaneously cut apart the foremost before the other droids that were scattered around the hangar even knew what was happening.

The droids rallied in response, summoning help from without, Panaka and his men had those in the plaza already occupied, and for a moment the Jedi and the Naboo were in control.

Qui-Gon immediately glanced downward at both Anakin and Kitster for a brief instant. "Boys, find cover!" he ordered them. "Quick!" He then looked over at Shmi, and with a gesturing nod, instructed her to stay with the children until the fight was over.

Mindful to Qui-Gon's admonition, the two friends bolted for the nearest point of cover, shortly before losing sight of each other in the ensuing chaos that surrounded them from almost every direction. Kitster promptly ducked behind a number of containers that were stacked atop one another along one of the far walls of the hangar, with Shmi following closely behind him. And upon the two of them huddling down low together for protection, Shmi suddenly realized to her great fear that her son wasn't anywhere nearby.

Anakin had in fact ducked beneath the fuselage of the closest starfighter, with laser bolts searing the air around him in brilliant bursts of fire.

"Get to your ships!" Padmé shouted at her pilots, leading the contingent of Naboo soldiers under her command in pursuit of the retreating battle droids. Ducking and crouching, she fired her blaster with quick precise moves, bringing down one battle droid after another, her charges finding their targets with unerring accuracy. The Jedi fought just ahead of her, swiftly blocking oncoming droid laser fire with their lightsabers, while striking down those unfortunate enough to cross their path. But it was Padmé on whom little Anakin's eyes were riveted, for not only had he never seen _this_ side of her, but he hadn't even known that it had existed. She moved with the skill and training of a seasoned fighter, no longer seeming in any way a young girl, but becoming instead a deadly combatant.

Pilots from the attacking force, and R2 units freed from storage in the hangar lockers, moved quickly to board the Naboo fighters, all while scattering swiftly through the hail of blaster fire. Clambering aboard their starships, pilots in their cockpits and R2 units in their sockets, they switched on their control-panels and ignited their engines. A roar of power filled the massive hangar, drowning out the sound of laser fire, and building to an ear-shattering crescendo. One by one, the starfighters began to levitate and shift into position for takeoff.

A Naboo pilot rushed past Anakin and promptly climbed into the fighter of which he was currently crouched behind for protection.

"Better get outta here, kid!" she called down to him from the cockpit. "Find yourself a new hiding-place! You're about to lose this one!"

Anakin instantly darted away as fast as he could go in a low crouch, droid blaster fire crisscrossing the air just above him, centering on the departing ships. The fighter that he had abandoned began to liftoff, wheeling toward the open hangar doors.

Other ships were already moving, speeding away into the blue, their engines booming.

As the Jedi and the Naboo fighters continued to push the droid hangar watch steadily back, Anakin searched hastily for a new hiding-place. Then he heard Artoo-Detoo whistle at him from another starfighter that was close at hand: the little droid already ensconced in his socket, his domed head rotating and his control lights flashing. The little boy raced across the hangar floor which was littered with the shattered bodies of battle droids, laser fire whizzing all about him, and rapidly climbed up the boarding stairs to the ship's cockpit, before jumping inside with a gasp of relief. Peering out of the safety of his bolt-hole, he watched the last pair of Naboo starfighters rocket out of the hangar.

While continuing to dismantle the battle droids left and right with astounding speed, Hes very suddenly sensed something through the Force as he glimpsed the last of the starfighters exiting the hangar, and zipped out through the hangar-bay doors using Force Speed, before sharply rounding the corner and promptly attacking a lone Trade Federation tank that was stationed close-by to prevent any other ships from leaving after the Queen's royal yacht had previously managed to escape the blockade of the planet.

Upon quickly destroying the tank, Hes turned around to see the final two starfighters successfully blasting away into the sky, heading directly for the Trade Federation's droid control ship that was currently orbiting just beyond the planet's atmosphere.

Now Panaka, Sabé, and the rest of the Naboo soldiers who had all been engaged in combat outside the hangar instantaneously burst through the doors, firing as they came.

Caught in a cross-fire, the remaining battle droids were quickly overwhelmed and destroyed, yet not before at least one of them managed to signal for immediate backup. And upon destroying the final battle droid that was stationed on watch in the hangar, Hes, who had quickly returned to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's side and promptly rejoined the fight, suddenly felt something alert him through the Force of imminent danger which was fast approaching the group's exact position.

"Destroyers inbound!" he yelled sharply, just as both he and everyone else present could hear the echoing sounds of metal clanging against the floor, as from around a corridor at the far end of the hangar from off the plaza, a cluster of several destroyer droids wheeled through the doorway and began to unfold, all of them assuming battle stance with their shields activated.

"Take cover!" Panaka shouted in earnest, motioning for everyone to take immediate shelter behind anything that could be used to protect them from the heavy laser fire.

Artoo-Detoo saw them first and beeped a warning to the little boy. Anakin promptly looked over at where the astromech was indicating, and saw that the destroyer droids had transformed and were already moving forward, their laser guns firing into both the Naboo and at the Jedi as well, who quickly blocked and deflected the bolts away with their lightsabers. Several soldiers went down in a crumpling heap, and Sabé was stung by a glancing blow that knocked her backward into the arms of Panaka.

Padmé and her companions resisted determinedly, but already, they were falling back to find cover.

"We've gotta help them, Artoo!" declared Anakin, standing up in the cockpit, with the intention of doing something, _anything_ ; his gaze casting about futilely for a weapon. But Artoo-Detoo was _way_ ahead of him. The little droid had plugged himself into the starfighter's computer systems: lights blinking across the cockpit's control-panel as he triggered the big engines. Everything roared to life at once, thus startling Anakin, who fell back into the pilot seat in surprise.

Slowly, the ship began to levitate upward, wheeling out of it's mooring space.

"Great work, Artoo!" Anakin shouted excitedly, reaching out at once for the steering bars. "Now let's see."

He wheeled the fighter about so that it was facing toward the combatants. His eyes scanned the control-panel desperately, searching for the weapon systems. He knew something about fighters, from salvaging past wrecks, but nothing of Naboo starfighters in particular, or of weapon systems in general for that matter. Most of what he knew was about guidance systems and engines, and most of that about pods, speeders, and aging transports.

"Which one, which one," he muttered, his fingers passing over buttons and levers and switches, undecided.

He lifted his eyes momentarily as one of the Naboo soldiers went down in a crumpled heap, his helmet and blaster flying away in a clatter of metal.

Laser charges burned the metal girders and walls about the defenders as the destroyer droids continued their relentless attack on Padmé's dwindling force.

In desperation, Anakin threw a bank of switches set into a red panel. The fighter began to shake violently: a reaction to a shift in the stabilizers.

"Uh-oh. Wrong ones," he breathed, instantly throwing the switches back into place. Artoo-Detoo beeped and whistled behind him in a frenzy. "I'm trying to! I don't know where the trigger is!"

His gaze roamed to a bank of four dark buttons that were recessed deep into finger holes and circled in green. "Maybe these." He pressed down on the buttons and instantly the nose lasers fired: their charges ripping into the destroyer droids, and one of them went down in a charred and smoking scrap heap.

"Yeah!" he shouted gleefully, and behind him, Artoo-Detoo beeped his approval.

Continuing to fire at the remaining destroyer droids as he slowly angled the fighter about so that each and every last one would be caught in the ship's cross-hairs, Anakin had failed to notice that in his excitement of beating back the droids, who were now turning their sights and weapons on him and firing back in retaliation, with their blasters having little effect on the ship's hull; merely causing the starfighter to lurch sideways, Anakin had flipped several random switches, and the afterburner instantly ignited with a rumble. He had pushed another… then one more… and the steering handle very suddenly fought free of his grip. The fighter then immediately wheeled about, streaking out through the hangar-bay doors, and lifted swiftly away.

"Wait! What's happening!?" Anakin cringed, as the cockpit hood slid smoothly into place, locking about the little boy, trapping him inside. Artoo's nervous beeps and whistles sounded in response through the ship's intercom speakers. "Yes, I know I pushed something!" He caught his breath as the astromech's beeps continued. "It's on automatic pilot? Well, try to override it."

The sleek yellow fighter had left the Naboo atmosphere, and was now entering deep space, leaving the planet behind; a green and blue jewel receding into the black. And just ahead, a series of small silvery dots appeared, growing steadily larger: other ships.

"Artoo, where are we going?" Anakin gasped, while still trying the decipher the control-panel.

The comm system suddenly squawked, and instantly he was hearing the voices of Ric Olié and the other Naboo pilots who had taken off ahead of him.

" _This is Bravo Leader,_ " Ric's leathery voice broke through the static. " _Bravo Three, intercept enemy fighters. Bravo Five, make your run on the transmitter station._ "

" _Copy, Bravo Leader,_ " the response came back.

Anakin could see them now; the silvery dots taking on recognizable shapes, transforming into Naboo starfighters, spread out against the blackness, approaching the larger blockier form of the Trade Federation battleship.

" _Enemy fighters straight ahead!_ " Ric Olié warned suddenly on the comm.

At that same moment, Artoo-Detoo beeped hurriedly at Anakin. The little boy felt his stomach lurch upon hearing the astromech's rushed chatter. "What do you mean the autopilot is searching for the other ships? What other ships?" His eyes shifted to the Naboo fighters ahead. "Not those?" Artoo-Detoo whistled a quick confirmation. Anakin collapsed in his seat. "The auto-pilot has taken us up there with them? Into battle!?" His mind raced. "Well, get us off auto-pilot, Artoo!" The astromech droid beeped and whistled some more.

"There _is no_ manual override!" Anakin shouted in despair. "Or, at least not any that I can find! You'll have to rewire or something. Artoo, hurry!" He stared helplessly through the cockpit glass as his fighter streaked directly toward the heart of the Trade Federation swarm, wondering what in the world he was going to do to save himself now.

Meanwhile, on the plains south of Theed, the battle between the Trade Federation and Gungan armies was fully joined. Gungans and battle droids were locked in close combat: a tangle of amphibious bodies and metal shells. The shield generator still held the Trade Federation tanks at bay; only the droids had broken through, but there were many more of them than there were of the Gungans, and General Ceel had committed all his reserves to the struggle.

Plus, the Trade Federation, unlike the Gungans, had other weapons left to call upon. While responding to orders from the orbiting battleship command-station, one of the commander droids unleashed a battalion of destroyer droids from the transports. Down long ramp-ways they wheeled, across the grasslands, over the bodies of shattered battle droids, and through the Gungan energy shield. Upon transforming into battle mode, they began to advance through the carnage, their twin blasters firing in a steady cadence.

Gungans and Kaadu both went down in broken heaps, but other Gungans moved quickly to fill the gaps in their lines, slowing the destroyer droids, fighting to hold their ground.

Back and forth, the battle raged, the outcome undecided.

In the hangar-bay, the Naboo and the Jedi gathered around Padmé as both Shmi Skywalker and Kitster Banai emerged from behind their place of cover.

"My guess is that the Viceroy's in the throne room," Padmé conjectured at once.

Shmi stepped forward hastily. "Wait! Has anyone seen Ani anywhere? He wasn't with Kitster and I when we took cover from the droids!" she stated in a near panicked tone of voice.

"Ani and I both got separated from each other soon after we entered the hangar. And by the way, where's Artoo?" Kitster added rather suddenly.

Upon hearing this revelation, Hes very suddenly had a sinking feeling run through him as he contemplated the horrific yet very likely possibility that both Anakin and the little blue astromech droid had inadvertently taken one of the starfighters out of the hangar-bay, and were now flying around somewhere on Naboo, or worse, they were both out in space, perhaps even currently engaged with the enemy.

" _Oh, no,_ " he whispered to himself, yet was just audible enough to be heard by those closest to him.

"What is it, Hes? What's wrong?" asked Qui-Gon.

The Padawan Learner immediately turned to look at him with tremendous worry in his eyes. "I think Anakin and Artoo ended up taking one of the starfighters, and they're out there somewhere right now," he answered, pointing to the open hangar doors.

Shmi's heart instantly sank deep into her chest as her breath caught in her throat, and her face went nearly pale in complexion, while Kitster turned and buried his head into her as she wrapped her arms around him despairingly. Padmé, noticing their reactions almost at once, walked over and placed a comforting hand on Shmi's shoulder.

"We'll get him back. I promise," she vowed wholeheartedly. "But right now, we _need_ to get to the throne room and capture the Viceroy before he has a chance to flee."

"Red group! Blue group! Everybody, this way!" Panaka instructed, gesturing their whole party towards an exit which lead directly to the Naboo palace. As they all did so, Jar Jar Binks stepped out from where he had been presently hiding in a very clumsy and bumbling manner.

"Hey! Wait for mesa!" he called quite loudly after them.

As everyone strode toward the double-doors, they all immediately slowed to a sudden halt just in front of them as a dark hooded and cloaked figure stepped through the opening to confront the whole lot of them.

Qui-Gon immediately recognized their foe, and slowly approached the dark warrior, with Obi-Wan and Hes flanking him on either side. And upon seeing him much more closely for the first time, Kitster shuttered quite fearfully at the mere sight of the terrifying menace that stood blocking the group's path. It was the Sith Lord who had attacked the Jedi twice before; first on the Tatooine desert, and again in the forest on Earth: a dangerous adversary, Qui-Gon had explained to the two children much later. An enemy of the Jedi Knights. He stepped out of the shadows like a large sand panther, his red and black tattooed face a terrifying mask, his yellow eyes bright with anticipation and rage.

Blocking the way out, he stood, waiting for the Jedi and their charges; a long-handled lightsaber held before him. Captain Panaka and his whole contingent of fighters all backed away at once.

"We'll handle this," Qui-Gon advised them, motioning for Padmé and her handmaidens to step aside as well, which they did so, though less quickly and with more obvious reluctance.

"We'll take the long way," replied Padmé, as everyone in the group apart from the Jedi moved towards another set of doors at the far end of the hangar-bay that lead back toward the Naboo palace.

Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Hes all stood alone in the Sith Lord's path. The three of them promptly removed their hooded robes, and ignited their lightsabers together in unison. Then, their horned antagonist stripped away his hooded cloak as well, before lifting the long-handled lightsaber which he bore, as if offering it for inspection. Gleaming blade flyer jutted from both ends of the handle, thus revealing a deadly dual-bladed weapon.

A smile crossed the bearer's feral face as he swung the weapon before him in an idle casual gesture, beckoning the Jedi ahead.

Leaping over the Zabrak warrior, Obi-Wan's lightsaber deflected off that of his adversary's own lightsaber as all three Jedi spread themselves out unevenly in a triangular-shaped formation around their enemy as they slowly advanced to meet him face to face. They immediately closed the gap with the Sith Lord in a violent clash of red, blue, and green lightsabers that produced the shriek of diamond-edge saw blades cutting through metal. Wheeling back and forth across the center of the hangar, the combatants lunged and parried, attacked and counter-attacked, carried out in a tremendously fierce no-holds-barred, no quarter given struggle.

The Sith Lord was supple and quick, and he worked his way between each of the Jedi with confidence and ease, whipping his two-ended lightsaber back and forth between each of them, more than holding his own against their efforts to bring him down.

 _He was skilled,_ Hes immediately noted, as the boy jumped, flipped, somersaulted, and cartwheeled over, under, and around the dark warrior's dual-bladed lightsaber, while continuously locking or deflecting blades with the opponent nonstop. _Even more skilled, perhaps, than the Jedi with whom he faced. And he was confident in a way that was most disturbing. He would not be overcome easily,_ the Padawan Learner suddenly realized.

They managed to drive the Sith Lord across the hangar-bay, where Maul had momentarily reached out and promptly flung the remains of a battle droid into a control-panel with the Force, which in turn opened up a large doorway that lead into the Theed power generator complex just beyond, as the Jedi continued pressing him backward relentlessly.

Qui-Gon Jinn was one of the most able swordsmen in the Jedi Order, and the Jedi Master he had trained under had considered him one of the best that he had taught. Qui-Gon himself had fought in numerous conflicts all across the galaxy in the span of his life, and against odds _so_ great, that many others would not have stood a chance. He had survived battles that had tested both his skill and resolve in every conceivable way imaginable. But on this day, he had met his match. The Sith Lord that he battled with Obi-Wan and Hes was far more than his equal in weapons training, and he had the advantage of being younger as well as stronger.

Obi-Wan on the other hand brought youth and stamina to the combat, but he had fought in only but a few contests, and was not battle hardened.

Hes, however, more than made up for the qualities which Obi-Wan lacked; that being speed, agility, skill, and power. He also had _some_ experience fighting in battle during the two short years he'd been a Padawan Learner when fighting alongside various Jedi Masters, with whom he'd accompanied on many missions, primarily as an observer to help further his studies at the Temple, but would inevitably get caught up in some kind of skirmish from time to time. And he also had a passion for learning as much as he possibly could. But he had not once fought against someone wielding a lightsaber in combat before, apart from participating in all but a few contests, similar to that of Obi-Wan. And especially not against an opponent who wielded a lethal dual-bladed weapon.

Together, they were more than able to hold their own against the Sith Lord, but their efforts at attack, at assuming the offensive against this most dangerous adversary were woefully inadequate. Darth Maul was a warrior in his prime, never to be any better; his powers at their apex. In addition, he was driven by both his messianic hatred for and disdain of the Jedi Knights; the enemies of the Sith for countless millennia. He had worked and trained all his life for this moment: for a chance to meet a Jedi Knight in combat face to face. It was an added bonus that he was able to engage not only two Jedi Knights, but a Jedi Padawan as well - he had no fear for himself, no doubt whatsoever…that he would win. He was focused in a way that Qui-Gon recognized at once: a Jedi's focus; mindful of the present, locked in on what was needed in the here-and-now.

Qui-Gon saw it in his mad eyes, and in the set of his red and black tattooed features. The Sith Lord was a living example of what the Jedi Master was always telling both Obi-Wan and Hes about how best to hear the will of the Force.

The four combatants fought their way across the hangar floor, their lightsabers flashing, bringing to bear each and every skill they had acquired over the years. The Jedi Knights tried continuously to press the attack, and indeed, the Sith Lord was moving away from the Naboo and the starfighters, and back toward the hangar's far wall. But Qui-Gon recognized immediately that while it might seem as if the Jedi were driving him before them, it was in fact the Sith Lord who was controlling the struggle. Wheeling and spinning, leaping and somersaulting with astonishing ease, their enemy was taking them with him, drawing them onto a place of his own choosing. His agility and dexterity allowed him to keep them at bay; constantly attacking while at the same time effectively blunting their counterattacks, relentlessly searching for an opening in their defense.

Qui-Gon pressed hard in the beginning of their fight, immediately sensing just how dangerous this individual was, wanting to put an end to the combat as quickly as possible. His long hair flying out behind him, he attacked with ferocity and determination. Hes came with him, following his lead. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, was having a rough time of staying within the duel, as the Sith Lord was continuously finding it rather easy to push or kick the young Jedi away off to the side, due to him being slower and weaker than the other two Jedi that Darth Maul faced.

Though, the Sith Lord immediately noticed just how astonishing powerful the youngest Jedi was, he also noted how fast and strong the boy was, too, given the fact that every time Maul tried to Push or use any other similar Force powers to either attack or knock him aside, the boy would almost always manage to successfully use the Force to counterattack or block his direct assaults against him.

All four of the combatants fought their way out of the main hangar through an entry, which Darth Maul had promptly opened, that lead directly into a gigantic power-generating station. Numerous catwalks and overhangs criss-crossed a humongous pit, in which a tandem of plasma generators that served the starship complex, was housed. The room was cavernous and filled with the noise of heavy machinery. Ambient light filtered away in clouds of steam and layers of shadows. The three Jedi and the Sith Lord all battled onto one of the many catwalks that was suspended high above the generators, and the metal frame of the catwalk rang with the thudding of their boots and the clash of their lightsabers.

Alone in the power station, hidden from the rest of Theed and it's occupants, the fighters intensified their struggle. The Sith Lord leapt from the bridge on which they fought to the one just above, and the Jedi followed; one coming up in front of him; two behind, so that they had him pinned between them. Down the length of the catwalk they fought, their lightsabers flashing, resulting in a spray of sparks flying from the metal railing of the walk as they smashed against it.

Then Darth Maul unexpectedly caught Obi-Wan off balance _yet again_ , and with a powerful kick, knocked the Jedi completely over the railing. Immediately taking full advantage of the Sith Lord's assault on his apprentice, Qui-Gon lunged forward fast, and with a strong blow to the Zabrak's chest area, had Force Punched him cleanly over railing as well. Down the Sith Lord tumbled, landing hard on a catwalk several levels below. The sheer force of the fall, or rather perhaps the unexpectedness of it, left him visibly stunned, as both Qui-Gon and Hes instantly leapt down after him, sensing a chance to put an immediate end to the battle. But with an unexpected kick of his leg, the Sith Lord successfully sent Hes into a total nosedive over the catwalk's railing before the boy could even land on his feet, before Maul then struggled to his own feet quickly and raced away, thereby taking the battle in a new direction.

As the Padawan fell down to the level directly under the catwalk that Maul and Qui-Gon were currently battling on, he quite briefly and accidentally slammed against one of the huge plasma conduit tubes, causing it to splinter and crack as he plummeted, before managing to land successfully onto the rounded catwalk below, right in between the two levels that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were each on. Looking up, he saw both combatants slowly making their way toward a small door at the far end of the power station. And upon taking a few paces back, Hes sprinted forward quickly and leapt in the air, using the Force to propel himself towards the doorway that Qui-Gon and Darth Maul had by now almost reached.

By the time Obi-Wan had recovered, Qui-Gon was in pursuit of Darth Maul two leveled directly above him. He then caught a brief glimpse of Hes, who had also been knocked off balance by the Sith Lord, leaping up towards the catwalk above from the one he had landed on in between them, to rejoin the fight.

The two Jedi went swiftly, their legs and arms pumping, their lightsabers flashing wildly. Qui-Gon was worn and battered by now; close to exhaustion, but Hes on the other hand was still very much energized, and with the two of them now boxing the Sith Lord in on both sides, their adversary was on the defensive at last, and they did not want to give him even the tiniest chance to regroup.

"Qui-Gon!" Obi-Wan called after his Master, trying to catch-up to the three duelists upon leaping back up onto the catwalk. But neither the Jedi Master nor the younger Padawan did not slow.

One after the other, the four antagonists passed through the small door and into a corridor beyond. They were moving quickly in their frenzied chase, and were into the corridor before anyone of them even realized what it was.

Lasers ricocheted off buffer struts, pulsing in long bursts of criss-crossing brilliance that segmented the corridor at seven different points. The lasers had just begun to kick in when the Sith Lord and the Jedi Knights rushed through the entry. Hes, in the lead, got farthest down the corridor hallway, and abruptly found himself trapped inside of a circular chamber, just past the final laser wall. Darth Maul was enclosed between walls six and seven, thereby sealing him in between Hes and Qui-Gon, who in turn was caught only one wall away. Obi-Wan, who was farthest away in the chase, did not get past even the first wall.

Shocked into immobility by the buzz and flash of the lasers, the antagonists froze where they were, casting about for an escape; finding none.

Qui-Gon took a quick measure of their immediate location. They were in the service corridor for the melting pit; the disposal unit of the power station's residue. The service corridor was armed with lasers against unauthorized intrusion. There would be a shutoff switch somewhere at both ends of the passage, but it was too late to look for it now.

Darth Maul gave each of the two Jedi who were nearest to him a wicked grin as he glanced back and forth between them. _Don't worry._ They could read it in his dark countenance. _You won't have long to wait._

Qui-Gon exchanged a meaningful glance behind him with Obi-Wan, before dropping into a guarded crouch to meditate… and wait.

Padmé Amidala Naberrie, Queen of the Naboo, along with her handmaidens, Shmi Skywalker, Kitster Banai, Jar Jar Binks, plus Captain Panaka and his soldiers all followed the passageways that lead out of the hangar through the city and back to the palace. It was a running battle, fought building by building, corridor by corridor, against the battle droids who had been left behind to garrison Theed. They encountered the droids both singly and in entire squads, and there was nothing for it each time but to fight their way clear without becoming entangled in a full-fledged engagement.

As a consequence, they avoided a direct route in favor of one less likely to necessitate contact with the droids. At first, they had no choice but to make straight for the palace, fleeing the battle in the main hangar, hoping that both speed and surprise would carry them through.

When that failed, Panaka began to take a more cautious approach. They used underground tunnels, hidden passageways, and connecting skywalks that avoided the patrol scouring the streets and plazas. When they were discovered, they fought their way clear as quickly as possible, and went to ground, all the while continuing steadily on.

In the end, they reached the palace much more quickly than Padmé had dared to hope, entering from a skywalk bridging to a watchtower, then making their way along the palace halls toward the throne room. They were in the midst of this endeavor, when an entire patrol of battle droids rounded a corner of the passage ahead of them and opened fire.

Padmé and her followers pressed back into the alcoves and doorways of the hall, firing their own weapons in response, desperately searching for a way out.

More battle droids were appearing by the dozens, and alarms were sounding all throughout the palace, thereby alerting the enemy to their presence.

"Captain!" Padmé shouted loudly over at Panaka above the din of weapons fire. "We don't have time for this!"

Panaka's sweat streaked face glanced about hurriedly. "Let's try outside!" he shouted back.

Turning his blaster on a tall window pane, Panaka blew out the frame and transparent steel. While Padmé's handmaidens and the bulk of the Naboo soldiers provided covering fire, the Queen and Panaka together with half-a-dozen guards, broken from cover and climbed swiftly out the shattered window, but now the group found themselves trapped on a broad ledge that was situated six stories above a thundering waterfall and catchment that fed into a series of connecting ponds that dotted the palace grounds.

Pressed against the stone wall, the Queen cast about furiously for an escape route.

Captain Panaka shouted at his men to use their ascension guns, motioning towards a ledge four stories farther up on the building.

All at once, the Naboo pulled their grapple-line units from their belts, fitted them to the barrels of their blasters, pointed them skyward, and fired. Slender cables uncoiled like striking snakes, the steel-clawed ends embedding themselves into the stone.

Swiftly, Padmé and the other Naboo activated the ascension mechanisms on their units and were towed up the wall. From behind, in the hallway, where her handmaidens and the rest of the Naboo soldiers still held the battle droids at bay, the firing grew more intense. Padmé ignored the sounds, forcing herself to continue ahead.

When they had reached the ledge above, they cast away the ascension cables, and Panaka used his blaster on a window to open a way back into the building. Transparisteel and permacrete shards lay everywhere as they climbed through once more, promptly finding themselves in yet _another_ hallway. They were close to the throne room now; it lay only another story up and several corridors back.

Padmé felt a fierce exultation: _she would have the Neimoidian Viceroy as her prisoner yet!_

But the thought was no sooner completed than a pair of destroyer droids wheeled about around one end of the hallway, swiftly transforming into battle mode. Mere seconds later, a second pair of droids appeared at the opposite end of the hallway, their weapons held at the ready. In a hollow mechanical monotone, the foremost of the droids ordered them to throw down their weapons and surrender.

Padmé hesitated. There was no possibility for an escape, unless they went back out the window. And if they did that, they would be trapped on the ledge and rendered helpless. They could try to fight their way free, but while they stood a reasonable chance against battle droids, they were seriously over-matched by their more powerful cousins.

In the wake of this chilling assessment, an inspired thought occurred to her: a solution that might just give them the victory that they sought in spite of their situation. She straightened, held out her arms in surrender, and tossed her blaster aside.

"Throw down your weapons," she ordered Captain Panaka and his soldiers. "They win this round."

Panaka immediately blanched. "But, Your Majesty, we can't-"

"Captain!" Padmé interrupted, her eyes locking with his. "I said to throw down your weapons."

Panaka gave her a look that suggested he clearly thought she had lost her mind, then he dropped his blaster to the floor and motioned for his men to do the same.

The destroyer droids skidded forward to take them all prisoner, but before they reached the Naboo, Padmé was able to complete a quick transmission on her comlink.

"Have faith, Captain," she urged a bewildered Panaka, her voice cool, calm, and collected as she slipped the comlink out of sight once more.

Things were not going well for the Gungan army. Like the Naboo, the Gungans were no match for the destroyer droids. Slowly, but surely, they were being pushed back, unable to stand against the relentless Trade Federation attack. Here and there, along their beleaguered lines, cracks were beginning to appear in their defense.

Elsewhere, the battle was taking a turn for the worse. Destroyer droids had broken through the Gungan lines fronting the shield generators, and were firing their weapons into the machines over and over. The Fambaa, on which the generators rode, shuddered and dropped to their knees; the shield generators smoking and sparking. Abruptly, the force-field began to waver and fade.

One of the commander droids, which had been watching it all unfold through electrobinoculars, was quick to report back to the Neimoidian command. Without delay, Federation tanks and STAPs were ordered forward at once, their guns firing anew.

When General Ceel saw the shield generators lose power, he realized that the battle was lost. The Gungans had done all that they could for the Queen of the Naboo. Turning to his staff, he immediately signaled for a retreat. The battle horn sounded the call, wailing out across the grasslands, and the entire Gungan army began to fall back.

Anakin Skywalker, meanwhile, was caught up in the midst of a ferocious dogfight between the Naboo and Trade Federation starfighters. Still struggling desperately to get off auto-pilot, he had managed to avoid engagement with the enemy mostly because his craft was flying in an erratic evasive manner that took it out of combat range every time it got to close for comfort. Fighters were exploding all around him; some so close he could see the pieces as they flew past his canopy.

"Whew, boy, this is tense!" he breathed, as he tried switch after switch on the control-panel, the fighter dipping and yawning in response to his unwelcome interference with it's operation. But he was learning the control-panel, too; his trial-and-error exploration yielding knowledge of what various switches, buttons, and levers did. The downside to all of this was that the firing triggers to the laser guns had locked, and try as he might, he could not find a way to break them free.

He glanced up from his search at a loud beep from Artoo-Detoo to find a pair of Trade Federation fighters approaching him head-on.

"Artoo! Artoo! Get us off-"

The astromech droid instantly overrode the rest of what he was going to say with a series of frantic whistles and beeps.

"I've got control?!" Anakin exclaimed in shock.

He seized the steering, immediately flipping on the power feeds, and jammed the thruster bars to port. Much to his surprise and everlasting gratitude, the starfighter banked sharply in response, and they shot past the droid fighters, inadvertently riding into a new swarm of combatants.

"Yes! I've got control!" Anakin was ecstatic. "You did it, Artoo!"

The little astromech droid beeped at him through the intercom system; a short abrupt exchange.

"Go back to Naboo? Forget it! This is my-"

Anakin suddenly felt something pulse through his small frame. He could faintly hear a very firm yet soft voice inside his head; a familiar voice, both urging and instructing him on what to immediately do next. With a rather unexpected expression of sheer self-determination and valor in his eyes, Anakin threw a number of switches on the control-panel, instantly prompting the ship's weapon systems to unlock, and from directly behind him, Artoo-Detoo beeped and whistled at him in total confusion. The little boy, however, did not answer. He was staring ahead intently: his eyes in a daze, as though he were in some sort of trance.

Suddenly, without any warning, little Anakin yanked the steering bar, and the starfighter veered hard, turning in the immediate direction of the droid control ship. The swarm of Federation fighters instantly gave chase, pursuing Skywalker's ship with such ferocity and speed, like a pack of ravenous predators that were hot on the trail of their lone prey.

As the fighters drew ever closer and closer, Anakin promptly threw the starfighter into full throttle mode while seemingly dodging the oncoming hail of laser fire with ease, almost as if he had been piloting a starfighter for years instead of minutes.

Reaching the droid control ship in moments, Skywalker all of a sudden dipped the fighter downward into a short controlled nosedive just as the Federation fighters were practically on top of him now; the laser blasts from their weapons ripping past him, barely missing their mark. And as his fighter stabilized, it streaked through a large opening near the battleship's center just as cannon fire from the Federation flagship's guns whipped all about him, trying to bring him down, but he was past them in a microsecond, while the droid fighters on the other hand had no time to respond to the maneuver, thus resulting in all of them rocketing into the hull of the battleship, exploding in a shower of flame and twisted metal parts.

Soaring into the battleship's cavernous main hangar, dodging transports, tanks, fighters, and stacks of supplies, Anakin slowed the fighter down as he maneuvered into a steep turn to the right, before going in full reverse to the left, swiftly gliding the ship back around towards the main hangar's exit. But instead of making a break for the opening, Anakin simply positioned his fighter to hover in place as he slowed the engines down to low-power, allowing the starfighter to hang in the air just above the hangar floor.

Artoo beeped and whistled frantically at him anew, wanting to know why he had done something so dumb. Anakin still did not answer the little astromech droid, who was by now becoming both worried and frustrated all at the same time.

Seconds later, Anakin unexpectedly pulled the steering bar closer toward him, resulting in the steering mechanism locking into a secondary position with a soft metallic clicking sound. Depressing his tiny thumb on the upper firing switch on top of the steering bar, a pair of blue glowing torpedoes instantly ejected from the ship's nose guns, and sped down the corridor as the fighter jolted this way and that, instantly snapping little Anakin out of his trance-like state.

"Whoa!" the little boy exclaimed in surprise at the sheer force of the sudden lurch to his ship. "Artoo? Wait, what happened? Where are we?"

The little blue astromech droid beeped and chirped wildly at him from behind in complete shock and disbelief. _How could Anakin not know what was immediately going on, or not even know what the little boy had been doing just now for that matter?!_

But there was absolutely no time to think about that now, because at that very moment, a massive explosion erupted from where the missiles had impacted with the interior of the battleship. The resulting explosion in question had come from the droid control ship's main reactor collapsing in on itself after being struck by the starfighter's secondary weaponry.

"Uh-oh," Anakin exclaimed in complete shock. "Did _I_ just do that?"

Artoo beeped and whistled a direct confirmation at him, before unexpectedly taking immediate control of the starfighter; firing the afterburner into high-gear and sending the craft rocketing directly towards the main hangar's opening as the entire battleship started to catastrophically implode in on itself.

"Hey, watch it! Take it easy, will you?" Anakin expressed loudly, after he was pushed back up against the pilot seat due to the sudden accelerated jolt of the craft. Artoo, however, did not reply, as he was too busy being focused on getting the both of them outta there all in one piece.

On the bridge of the droid control ship, alarms suddenly rang out all over as the droid operator looked up directly at Daultay Dofine in absolute shock and confusion. "We're losing power. There seems to be a problem with the main reactor," she promptly voiced at once.

"Impossible!" Daultay Dofine exclaimed most adamantly, refusing to even believe such a diabolically daft claim. "Nothing can get through our shield."

As the raging battle between the Naboo starfighters and Federation droid fighters continued, one of the Naboo pilots suddenly caught a glimpse of something that was unexpectedly and quite surprisingly happening to the battleship.

"What's that?" she asked over the intercom to the other pilots. "It's blowing up from the inside-out!"

"Wasn't us, Bravo Five," Ric Olié replied quickly from over the intercom system. "We didn't hit it."

"Whoa! This is _way_ better than Podracing!" Anakin shouted at Artoo-Detoo, grinning broadly as he zigzagged his Naboo starfighter back and forth, all the while dodging past flying, flaming debris which criss-crossed this way and that from all around him as the droid control ship was now being wracked by a series of massive explosions that quickly fanned out across the deck of the ship, immediately building to a catastrophically raging inferno that seemingly vaporized anything and everything that it consumed in it's wake as the battleship continued to break apart; the explosions tearing through it, engulfing it, as huge chunks tore away from the ship's hull: hurtling into space.

As the deadly tidal wave of fire literally came roaring at them from directly behind, the little blue astromech droid beeped frantically as he saw the rolling cloud of yellowish-white flame was now practically riding their tail. Yet, little Anakin did not seem to notice, or even care for that matter; he was way too caught up in the exhilaration of it all, way too fixated on accomplishing the one thing that he never got the chance to do himself back on Tatooine, the one thing that Hes had managed to achieve for him in his stead.

In his small mind, he was once again back in his pod as well as in the race, soaring across the track of the Grand Arena along the Dune Sea, while seemingly facing-off against his arch-rival Sebulba one more time. Finally, at long last, he was going to finish what he had both started, but had also been unable to do several times before, all those years prior: winning the Podrace.

Rocketing towards the opening in the battleship's hangar-bay, an explosion jarred the starfighter ever so slightly about, yet Anakin was most emphatically elated by this, for at the exact moment when the edge of the deadly blaze was directly upon the duo, ready to swallow both Anakin and Artoo-Detoo up alive, the little boy instantaneously cleared the opening and pulled back on the steeling bar; angling the starfighter up and away from the ginormous deathtrap.

"Whoo!" little Anakin yelled quite pridefully with overwhelming excitement.

"Look!" shouted Bravo Three, upon noticing a lone starfighter that had promptly and expectantly exited out of the droid control ship. "It's one of ours, out of the main hold!"

Anakin couldn't believe it; _he did it! He actually did it! At long last, Anakin Skywalker… had finally won the Podrace!_

" _WHOO‼_ " the little boy howled with such uncontrollable glee as he raised his tiny fist above him in glorious triumph.

** ** _KABOOM‼_** **

The central core section of the droid control ship shook violently: immediately going critical and then exploding outwards as the series of smaller-scale explosions that finally consumed the entirety of the Trade Federation battleship all together in a brilliant ball of light.

"We did it, Artoo! We did it!" little Anakin shrieked most ecstatically, feeling positively overjoyed. "Yaaay! Yippee!"

The astromech droid was beeping and chirping wildly in response, as if he had seemingly fried all of his circuits.

From just behind them, small bits and pieces of debris from the now destroyed Trade Federation battleship flew past the canopy of Anakin's fighter as the light from the explosions faded to black.

Meanwhile, as a large squad of battle droids forcefully marched the captured Naboo towards the throne room, Captain Panaka briefly gave Padmé a much concerned look, as he was greatly worried that her plan, whatever it might be, won't work at all.

All of a sudden, the battle droids promptly slowed to a complete stop and began to shake violently. Some of them started to run around in circles, while others dipped and swayed, as if their gears had snapped and their circuits had shorted out.

Padmé instantly looked at Captain Panaka, who in turn looked back; both of them smiling at each other, thinking the exact same thing: _the pilots had succeeded in destroying the control ship. It looked as though the Viceroy might become the Queen's prisoner after all, but only…if they hurried to catch him before he escaped._

Elsewhere, on the plains and grasslands of Naboo, the army of Trade Federation battle droids, destroyer droids, STAPs, tanks, and transports that had managed to completely overrun the whole of the Gungan army, and were now herding them all into groups, before marching them away to be processed in the internment camps, had suddenly powered down and ceased all manner of functionality: the droid tanks and transports skidding to a full halt, while STAPs crashed and burned. And the battle droids, as well as the destroyer droids, all seemingly fell over motionless where they stood.

General Ceel and his commanders all exchanged rather stunned and confused looks amongst one another: the droid army had locked up. For as far as the eye could see, it stood frozen in place. One of the Gungan soldiers slowly edged towards his now motionless captors, and touched it. The droid instantly tipped over, laying lifeless on the grass, and General Ceel suddenly realized what was going on.

"The control ship has been destroyed!" he exclaimed, and immediately pushed the closely battle droid over, which in turn, landed on the ground completely immobile. "Look!"

All the Gungans everywhere on the battlefield immediately began to cheer in triumphant victory. The battle had been won, and the Trade Federation's droid army… was no more.

Obi-Wan Kenobi prowled the front-end of the service corridor to the melting pit like a caged animal. He was very furious at himself for getting trapped so far away from both Qui-Gon and Hes, but also rather quite furious with _them_ for letting this happen by rushing ahead instead of waiting for him to catch-up.

Hes, meanwhile, had taken-up a position similar to that of Qui-Gon, and began to meditate as well. But as he was doing so, something rather unexpected and very strange had occurred. For whilst the boy was meditating, his body began to levitate but only a couple of meters up off the ground, causing Obi-Wan to stare slack-jawed at the young Padawan Learner upon seeing this happen.

For a moment, Darth Maul thought that the Jedi was staring directly at him for some odd reason, until he briefly turning his head to glance behind him at Hes, and upon seeing the young boy floating just above the ground with his legs crossed, the Sith Lord turned back to look at Obi-Wan: an ever so slightly air of bemusement now on his face as well.

Suddenly, the boy fell like a rock onto the smooth stone flooring, landing flat on his back, before instantly shooting into an upright position and back into consciousness: a look of clear and utter confusion imprinted on his face as to what exactly had happened just now. But there was roughly no time to think about that, for at that moment when the Padawan Learner got back to his feet, preparing himself as quickly as possible for the inevitable confrontation ahead, both physically and mentally: willing his mind to focus on the upcoming fight, the laser beam's warning system in the service corridor went off.

Obi-Wan stared down the length of the corridor well before-hand, quickly measuring the precise distance that he would have to travel in order to reach Qui-Gon, Hes, and the Sith Lord once the laser walls paused again. He caught a minor glimpse of them deactivating while rushing to catch-up with the others, then of reactivating again in a matter of seconds. He would have to be quick; _very_ quick. He did not want either his Master, nor the younger Padawan, to face this tattooed monster alone.

Down the way, pinned between two walls of laser-beams, Qui-Gon Jinn had been kneeling in deep meditation; facing toward the Sith Lord and the melting pit, while Hes had been facing back towards Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in the opposite direction. He had been gathering himself up for a final assault, bringing himself in tune with the Force.

And once the laser walls had deactivated, Obi-Wan sprinted ahead, launching himself down the length of the narrow passageway; his lightsaber raised. Qui-Gon was instantly on his feet as well, his own weapon flashing, while Hes in turn activated his lightsaber also; the Padawan's blade clashing with that of the Sith Lord's duel-bladed weapon. He catapulted through the opening that lead into melting pit, and together, the two of them closed with the Sith Lord on both sides, forcing him back out of the passageway completely. Obi-Wan put on a new burst of speed, howling out at antagonists ahead, as if by the sound of his voice, he could bring them back towards him.

Suddenly, the buzz of the capacitors kicked in once more, cycling to reactivate the lasers. Obi-Wan promptly threw himself ahead with all his might, still too far from the corridor's end. He cleared all of the gates but the last, and the lasers criss-crossed before him in a deadly wall, bringing him to an abrupt stop just short of where he needed to be.

With his lightsaber clutched in both hands, he stood watching helplessly as Qui-Gon Jinn, Hescand Starrgazer, and Darth Maul all battled on the narrow ledge that encircled the melting pit. A stream of electrons were all that separated him from the combatants, but it might just as well have been a wall of permacrete three meters thick. Desperately, he cast about for a triggering device that might shut the system down, but he had no better luck here than he'd had at the other end. He could only watch…and wait…and pray that Qui-Gon and Hes would hold on a little longer.

It appeared that his Master, in particular, would in fact hold on just long enough. He seemed to have found a fresh reserve of strength, and a strong burst of energy that he had not felt in many years, during his meditation; his youth somehow partially returning to him, even if it were for only just a short while. And now, he was attacking with a ferocity that seemed to, for the moment, have the Sith Lord completely stymied. But it was Hes, on the other hand, who suddenly looked to be ever so steadily tiring out, even though he was clearly still fired-up.

With quick but powerful hard strokes of his lightsaber, Qui-Gon bore into his adversary, deliberately engaging in close-quarters combat, refusing to let the enemy bring his double-bladed weapon to bear. He drove Darth Maul backward about the rim of the overhang, keeping the Sith Lord constantly on the defensive, while Hes in turn continuously looked for an opening in which he could bring their foe down quickly, once and for all.

Darth Maul's ragged face took on a frenzied look, and the glitter of his strange eyes brightened with uncertainty. He knew he had to dispatch one of the Jedi as quickly as possible, and immediately back-flipped across the melting pit, giving himself space in which to recover, gaining just enough time to assume a new battle stance, as Hes was upon him instantly; somersaulting forward across to the other side of the pit, landing right in front of his lethal opposite, thereby covering the distance that separated them: hammering into the Sith Lord anew.

But the boy was now clearly showing signs of growing weary, with his energy slowly beginning to drain out of him. And as Qui-Gon came immediately to his aid, and stroke for stroke, blow for blow, the three fighters battled about the rim of the melting pit, fiercely locked in a combat that seemed endless and forever, Obi-Wan watched impatiently as the heated battle raged on for what seemed like an eternity.

Then all of a sudden, the Sith parried a down-stroke world swiftly to the right, and with his back to the Jedi Master, made a forward stabbing lung with his lightsaber.

Too late. As Hes lunged forward and went for the Zabrak with a strong counter-blow of his own, ready to end him for good, the red blade of the Sith Lord's lightsaber caught the boy directly in the upper chest area, merely inches away from piercing his heart.

" ** _NOOOOOO‼_** "

As Qui-Gon froze where he stood, both in shock and disbelief at what had just transpired before his eyes, Obi-Wan thought he heard the Jedi Master scream. Then he realized, _it was himself_ , calling out his young friend's name in despair. And upon stiffening with the impact, Hes glanced down momentarily at what had befallen him, taking a small step back as the fiery blade was withdrawn.

The boy stood motionless for an instant, fighting against the sudden shock of the fatal blow; immediately placing his hand directly over the large wound, trying desperately to focus with all his efforts on using his superpowers, combined with using the Force, to heal himself. Suddenly, the Padawan felt a strong tightness gripping his throat as he was promptly lifted completely up off his feet and into the air: his other hand immediately dropping his weapon and clutching at his throat, trying to breathe. His lightsaber clattered at once to the stone floor.

Darth Maul turned to look in the direction of a stunned and disbelieving Qui-Gon Jinn, grinning maliciously at the Jedi Master upon what he had just now done, while still gripping the boy tightly by the throat with the Force.

' _One down, two more little Jedi pigs to go,_ ' the Sith Lord mused to himself.

Qui-Gon lunged forward in a fiery storm of pure hatred at the antagonist, when the lasers abruptly went off again. And Obi-Wan, seething with all-out rage, charged forward instantaneously to meet his horned nemesis head-on.

Nute Gunray stood with Rune Haako and four members of the occupation council, anxiously waiting for the battle droids to return with the captured Naboo Queen as prisoner. Suddenly, and without any warning, the battle droids that stood guarding the Viceroy and his fellow advisers instantly started to malfunction and shut down, some managing to remain standing upright while frozen in place where they were, others falling over motionless and in pieces.

"Oh, no!" the Viceroy uttered in absolute dismay, upon realizing to his horror what was going on. "No, no, no, no, no! This can't be possible! It can't be-"

Suddenly, a loud and strong female voice rang out from beyond the throne room's entrance, seemingly but a short distance away from where he now stood trembling in fear, and down the length of a long hallway which lead directly to a descending flight of stairs, of which Padmé, Captain Panaka, and the six Naboo soldiers who had accompanied them, as well as the rest of the Naboo freedom-fighters and company in toe, had all just now ascended.

" _Viceroy!_ " she bellowed sharply, as her entire party strode towards the entrance of the throne room to confront the Neimoidians face to face. " _You're occupation here has ended!_ "

Gunray cowardly ducked behind the Queen's throne as one of the four members of the Neimoidian council hastily scrambled for the control-panel to close and lock the door to the throne room, but was immediately struck in the shoulder by a blaster shot from Captain Panaka, who had recovered his weapon, along with the other dropped blasters, from one of the Naboo soldiers who had remained behind with Sabé and her group, when Padmé and her small unit took the short-cut out the palace window to reach the throne room much more quickly.

Once the Naboo soldiers and company entered the chamber, Panaka gestured for them to surround the Neimoidians, as well as for one of the men to jam the doors shut, so that the Viceroy couldn't have the chance to escape.

Briefly surveying the room, Padmé immediately noticed the Viceroy hiding behind the throne; his robes clearly shaking due to him both quivering and whimpering in terror.

"Come on out here and show yourself, you coward!" she demanded coldly.

Slowly, the Neimoidian did as instructed, cautiously moving towards the Queen of Naboo, as she in turn stepped forward to confront him at last.

"Now, Viceroy, we will discuss a new treaty," Padmé stated firmly, giving Nute Gunray a hard look. "And this time, _you_ … will be the one to sign it."

Obi-Wan, free at last of the laser wall, charged out of the service tunnel and into the chamber that housed the melting pit, momentarily ducking to avoid getting slammed into by a still conscious, yet barely alive Hes, who had been flung like a rag-doll back out through the service corridor and away from the melting pit by a tremendously powerful Force Kick from the Sith Lord, who had also managed to temporarily knock Qui-Gon backward into the far wall with strong Force Push, which slightly stunned him, before the Jedi Master leapt back to his feet and charged the Zabrak once more.

Abandoning any pretense of observing even the slightest caution, Obi-Wan Kenobi barreled straight into Darth Maul with such fury, that the direct impact of the blow almost knocked both of them off the ledge, and into the abyss below. He stuck at the Sith Lord maddeningly with his lightsaber, as if his own safety meant nothing to him.

Lost in a red haze of rage and frustration, consumed by their grief over the loss of their young friend, as well as their failure to prevent the boy's tragic fall, the Sith Lord was born backward by the younger Jedi Knight's initial rush, and completely caught off-guard by the combined wild assaults from the both of them; being pressed all the way back to the far wall of the melting pit. There, he struggled to keep the Jedi at bay, trying to open enough space in between them to defend himself.

Lightsabers scraped and grated against one another, and the chamber echoed with their fury.

Lunging and twisting, Darth Maul managed to regain the offensive and counter-attacked, using both ends of his lightsaber in an effort to cut Obi-Wan's legs out from under him. But Obi-Wan, while not so experienced as Qui-Gon, was quicker.

Swiftly anticipating each blow, he was able to elude his antagonist's efforts to bring him down, until another surprise kick from the Sith Lord had sent the young Jedi flipping into the air over backwards, before a quick Force Push by the Zabrak warrior, who was desperately trying to counter Qui-Gon's every move in the process, sent him gliding back even farther. And upon losing his footing completely on the smooth stone flooring of the melting pit's rim while trying to recover, Obi-Wan tumbled fully over the edge and into the void below: his lightsaber seemingly plummeting down into the endless shaft after him.

With a tremendous yell, Qui-Gon screamed out for his Padawan, who disappeared beneath the gigantic chasm beyond: the anger and despair flooding his cells, harnessing powers of both the Dark Side and the Light, the Jedi Master launched himself at the Zabrak with _absolute_ fury and hatred, unleashing his full potential upon the Sith Lord: this time driving him back into a tangle of vent tubes and circuit housings.

Steam burst from ruptured pipes, and the air was promptly filled with the acrid smell of scorched and melted wiring.

Darth Maul began to use his command of the Force to fling heavy objects at Qui-Gon; trying to throw him off balance, to disable him, to disrupt the flow of his attack. But the Jedi Master, sensing this right before the Sith Lord had begun to do so, responded in kind, and the air was suddenly filled with deadly missiles.

Lightsabers flicked right and left to ward off the objects, and the clash of errant metal careening off stone walls formed an eerie shriek in the gloom as the battle wore on.

As the two enemies fought their way back toward the melting pit, Qui-Gon began to sense his opportunity to finally put a permanent end to his rival slipping away from him, as well as his strength waning fast. He then mounted a final assault, and rushed the Sith Lord with a series of side blows that were designed to bring the two-bladed lightsaber horizontal. Upon fainting an attack to his enemy's left, the Jedi Master brought his own lightsaber over and down with such force, that he severed the other's weapon cleanly in half, which caught Darth Maul by surprise and slightly off-guard momentarily.

Suddenly, without either of them even noticing, Hes' lightsaber began to gradually slide towards the melting pit. And an instant later, both combatant's heard a distinct yell coming from within the melting pit as Obi-Wan, who while falling away into the dark of the chasm, had reached out in desperation and managed to catch hold of a metal rung just a few feet below the lip of the pit, launched himself skyward, and catapulted back toward it's lip.

Imbued with the full power of the Force, the young Jedi cleared to rim easily, somersaulting directly over and behind the Sith Lord in a single smooth and powerful motion as Hes' fallen lightsaber shot into the palm of his outstretched hand. And as he landed successfully, a much visibly shocked Darth Maul world about to confront him. But in the next instant, the young Jedi spun wildly, slashing Hes' lightsaber from right to left in single smooth stroke across the Zabrak's waistline, slashing through his torso, burning him with killing fire.

The stricken Sith Lord howled in pain and disbelief as Obi-Wan watched with satisfaction as his dying enemy tumbled away into the darkness of the melting pit.

Thumbing the lightsaber off, Obi-Wan promptly turned to stare at a slack-jawed Qui-Gon Jinn, who had thought with absolute certainty, that he had forever lost _both_ of his pupils to the Sith Lord.

Smiling at each other, the two friends abruptly glanced down at the fallen Padawan Learner's weapon, which was now firmly clutched in Obi-Wan's palm. Glancing up at each other once more with tears in their eyes, the Master and apprentice tightly embraced each other in mourning over the loss of Starrgazer.

What neither of them had known, until they gradually made their way back through the corridor and towards the Naboo hangar-bay once again, was that the power station had systemically gone into emergency shut down, due to a rupture in one of the gigantic plasma conduit tubes.

Large broken shards of thick transparisteel lay all over one of the circular catwalks that surrounded the damaged conduit tube, and both Qui-Gon as well as Obi-Wan were rather quite baffled as to just what had caused the breach upon them first noticing, and then briefly inspecting the tube.

Meanwhile, back inside the Naboo hangar-bay, all of the starfighters flew through the opening and the on-board astromech droids re-positioned the vehicles back into each one of their individual mooring spaces. And as the pilots ended their fighters, they suddenly noticed that all the power to the hangar had been cut, and wondered just what in the world was going on.

Upon exiting his own vehicle, Ric Olié frantically looked all over for the lone starfighter pilot who had seemingly managed to blow up the Trade Federation's droid control ship, thereby disabling the entire droid army and putting a permanent stop to the Federation's hostile takeover of the entire planet, when a few of the pilots walked up to him.

"Well, we're all accounted for," one of them stated.

"So where in blazes flew that ship?" Ric asked firmly, looking back over toward the hangar's opening just as Anakin's fighter approached: landing safely inside the hangar, and back into the mooring space from which it came.

As the small group of pilots walked over toward the ship, the cockpit's hood slid back, revealing the pilot to be nothing more than a little boy seated within, of whom Olié instantly recognized.

" _You?!_ " he exclaimed in both shock and surprise, upon finding out just who it was that had systematically saved all of Naboo and it's inhabitants. " _What are you doing in there?_ "

Anakin looked over the rim of the cockpit at the gathered bunch of starfighter pilots, who in turn were looking up at him in sheer amazement.

"I'm not gonna get in trouble, am I?" he asked softly.

No sooner had he asked that very question, a massively loud shriek that promptly echoed throughout the whole interior, which was coming directly from the other end of the hangar by an exceedingly irate, and not to mention very distressed Shmi Skywalker, confirmed the little boy's worst fears.

" _ANAKIN SKYWALKER‼_ " his mother roared in complete outrage at what he had so foolishly done just now.

"Uh-oh!" little Anakin gasped in utter dismay upon hearing the livid tone of his mother's anxious voice as he ducked back out of sight again, wondering just how much trouble he had gotten himself into this time.


	22. Epilogue - The Grid

Author's Note: _PHEW‼_ At _looonnnggg_ last … this first installment of my fanfiction is one-hundred percent completed. I gotta say, for awhile there, I thought I would **_NEVER_** be done with writing this. And now, onto the much harder part: writing out the sequels to this story. I just hope and pray that it won't take me nearly as long to fully publish each one of them ( _depending upon exactly how many I choose to write_ ) than it took to fully compose this one.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 **The Grid**

Hes' eyes immediately snapped wide-open. And upon clambering at once to his feet, he hastily looked all around him at his now unfamiliar surroundings, finding to his great shock and confusion that he was no longer anywhere in the Theed power generation complex, but someplace else entirely. The surrounding area, whatever and wherever it was, was shrouded almost entirely in darkness. Everything for miles around as far as the eye could see had a bluish grey tone to it.

Looking down at his chest, Starrgazer found that his wound which he had sustained from the Sith Lord's lightsaber blade was now fully healed. He also surprisingly found himself to be wearing the exact same articles of clothing that he had worn while on Earth during the time that he, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and the others had spent on the planet in order to make repairs to the Naboo ship's hyperdrive, as well as when he first encountered Harry Potter and Sirius Black.

' _Where the hell am I? What is going on here?_ ' the boy thought rather bewilderingly to himself.

Suddenly hearing what sounded to be some kind of skirmish or whatnot, Hes turned and slowly walked towards the strange noises. Upon cresting over-top a steep slope just ahead, Hes could immediately make out what appeared to be three individuals, all of them wearing what looked like strange black glowing neon-colored body armor and black helmets, battling against a fourth individual who was sporting nearly identical body armor. They each wielded bizarre neon-glowing discs against the lone fighter, who as it appeared, was more than holding his own against his three assailants.

As Hes steadily made his way down to ground-level from just over the rise on other side of the hill, the conflict escalated as the lone combatant both quickly and fairly easily gained the upper hand in the struggle, promptly swinging his arm out with his disc-shaped weapon and catching one of the attackers square in the chest area, with the individual quite literally falling to teeny-tiny pieces as his body all of a sudden disintegrated upon contact with the combatant's weapon.

The two remaining attackers rushed the lone warrior head-on, but he easily avoided their assaults as he ducked, weaved, and blocked each and every attack that came his way. The combatant then promptly dispatched one of his two opponents, decapitating him as the man's body shattered like glass: the pieces falling to the ground in a large outwardly-spray of tiny particles. The remaining assailant immediately turned and ran for it, choosing to flee for his life, but as Hes both slowly and cautiously approached from a slight distance way, the man suddenly spotted him and came rushing at him full sprint.

Suddenly, the man's whole body instantaneously disintegrated right in front of the Hes, and the particles sprayed outwards at him in a brief heavy mist. But the boy instantly thrust his arm out in front of with his palm raised and his fingers outstretched: the particles immediately deflecting off of an invisible barrier and flying both left and right away from him as Hes used the Force to block the shower of particles from hitting him.

Carefully lowing his arm back down to his side, Hes slowly as well as guardedly approached the one surviving combatant that remained, not knowing precisely what to make out of all that had just now occurred before him.

As the two individuals gingerly walked up to each other, they starred at the other for a briefly long awhile. Hes then broken the eerie silence.

"Who are you?" he asked almost at once.

The strange-looking man remained silent for a moment, but when he finally spoke, he said something that was most definitely unusual to say the least. "Greetings, program!"

Hes looked at the strange warrior in absolute confusion upon hearing that. "Program?! What- What is going on here, where are we!? What is this place!?" he demanded strongly.

The stranger immediately spoke-up again, this time saying sometime even more outlandish, and to Hes, frankly… crazy.

" _Welcome… to the Grid!_ "

 **To Be Continued…**

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Author's Note: Remember that I stated back at the beginning in the Prologue that this fanfiction was going to be a retelling of the Star Wars Universe, combined with a number of other favorite genres that I liked, which takes place in a Multiverse setting. Well, it just so happens in fact that Tron is one of my favorites.

Author's Note: And to all you Harry Potter and/or Star Wars fans alike out there, I would most certainly appreciate any feedback and/or ideas as to what you would like to see happen in the next fanfiction installments that you can give me, and I'll try to incorporate them into my fanfiction if at all possible. So please, think of absolutely anything that you can for the upcoming stories, and post them ( _including any and all thoughts and comments regarding this first installment as a whole, and whether you liked/disliked it_ ) in the ' _Post Review_ ' section down below.


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